


Misadventuring Misfits

by BabblingAdventures



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23479225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabblingAdventures/pseuds/BabblingAdventures
Summary: The Gods were dead. No one was quite sure when it had happened but the elves had moved in and taken over the land, answering only to a mind altering race called the Illithid. It was simply the way of the world now. Yet a group of travelers, thrown together by circumstance instead of desire, were important to someone out there. They stood among a war they were unaware they were fighting, moving as pawns in someone else's game, when their only desire was to get back home





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Misadventuring Misfits is a weekly web serial, updated every Sunday. Please follow, share and support us. :)

It started with an ogre. This particular ogre had a penchant for picking people up, often without their consent, and placing them inside the tavern where they would receive a free drink coupon. This undoubtedly drummed up ample business. It also left the tavern's bookkeeper wondering how they weren’t hemorrhaging coin every month.

“You drink free.” It was early in the afternoon when said Ogre clasped one meaty hand over the head of a tiefling. The tiefling looked at her traveling companion for help but when the dwarf heard the words “drink” and “free” a large grin split across her face.

“Whatever you say, boss,” the dwarf whooped, walking through the front doors. The tiefling was set down next to her, the white of her eyes smoky and rather large in shock.

Two drink tickets were shoved in their face. “Sorry about that. We’re trying to teach Mathius to have a little more grace and decorum but honestly, the fact that he hasn’t squeezed anyone’s head off this last month is about all the progress I expect to get out of him.”

“Name’s Sunny,” the dwarf said, taking the drink tickets and sticking out her hand. “And not a worry about your ogre friend. Take’s more than that to shake up Ein.” The tiefling, Ein, rubbed the back of her head in slight disagreement. “You work here?”

The half orc nodded, his eyes ticking over her shoulder as he cursed under his breath. Outside, Mathius had picked up a gnome who looked at the ogre with a murderous rage. “Yeah, um, the bar. Those tickets will get you a starter drink. Enjoy!” Pushing past Sunny and Ein, the half orc rushed outside to intervene. Mathius was looking at the gnome in genuine concern as the gnome ranted about the decorum of picking someone up just because they were small.

“Ein,” Sunny said wistfully as she watched the half orc rush outside. “I may have met the one.”

Ein rolled her milk white eyes. “I thought the one was two towns back and had enough body hair to make a fur coat.”

Sunny snorted. “He was the one for that night. That fine gentleman,” she groaned a little. “He won’t know what has hit him. We’re staying until closing,” she declared.

Ein shrugged. It was probably for the best. Elves patrolled these streets and she had a feeling that despite wearing the thickest cloak she could afford, they still had seen her red skin. They would be looking for her.

Behind the bar, a woman was pouring up drinks to several patrons at a time. With each pour she paused, making eye contact with her customer and briefly letting them believe they were her sole attention. She would lean forward to offer an ear, or toss a smile or an inside joke their way before moving on. From Ein’s observation, most of her customers seemed smitten and left the bar with a dream like smile.

By the time Sunny and Ein reached the bartender, she was already handing them two shots and taking one of her own. “What else can I get you?”

“We have some drink tickets for this fine establishment.” Sunny handed over the two tickets.

The woman nodded, her silver and purple hair bouncing around her shoulders. “Those shots are on the house. It’s a new blend that I’m trying. Your tickets are good for one free drink of your choice,” she paused. “The ogre didn’t draw blood, did he?”

“No,” Ein said fearfully.

“Good. That’s a whole other ticket.” Grabbing a few more glasses, the bartender made the drinks requested, shouting good naturedly at a couple at the end of the bar who were snuggling up in such a way that most would consider indecent. “Here you two go. It’s a busy night here but there should be a table or two upstairs. You need anything, come and get me. My name’s Kit. I’m the owner here.”

“Nice to meet you, Kit,” Sunny said, already halfway done with her tankard of mead. Ein gave Kit a courtesy half smile before ducking her head low in hopes to move to the more quiet parts of the bar.

“By the way,” Kit called out. Ein winced. Often, those words were followed with a firm suggestion for Ein to vacate the establishment. She half expected Mathius to return and grab her by the head with a force that would normally earn her the special drink ticket. “I got a gunslinger upstairs. He tries to blend but does a poor job of it. Anyone gives you trouble, you go to him.” Kit gave Ein a pointed look before ticking her gaze up towards the balcony. A tall man leaned against the banister, a pair of firearms dangling from each hip. 

Ein nodded her thanks and kept her head down as she followed Sunny upstairs.

The Silver Fox was a bright, two story tavern that boasted a large stage where anyone could get up and showcase their talents. The drinks were generous and the tables were plenty. Yet, most days a patron was hard pressed to find a solitary seat. Free drinks after a semi assault by an ogre was a gimmick that oddly worked. Once here, people always came back for more.

The tavern had been open for a few years and had steadily become known as the place to go for a good time if you were a traveler passing through or simple townsfolk looking for an evening to unwind. To others, however, it had become something more. Kit had a reputation of not putting up with much in her bar. There were no second chances. A fight started; you were out. Despite these no-nonsense rules, patrons often saw her at various tables with individuals clearly deemed undesirable. She had gained a sort of accord with those sorts and in return, they often did her bidding. 

All of this was unofficial of course. 

As Kit watched the tiefling and dwarf head upstairs she locked eyes with Damien. She wasn’t lying when she said he didn’t blend in. Though she now figured his formidable presence was more purposeful than he claimed. There had been a time she had assumed his ignorance had been the breading of a simple farm boy unaware of the ways of subtle intrigue. She now suspected the act was done to amuse and frustrate her in the same go.

Damien gave Kit a concealed nod but didn’t make any indication that he even saw the new travelers. But Kit knew that he would keep them in his peripheral. Tiefling’s in general always caused some nervous titters from bigoted townsfolk. But ones that had the sight? Kit had mentally cursed the second she saw the white fog that swirled in the depths of Ein’s eyes.

That was problem number one she would have to take care of before the end of the night. Problem number two had been sitting at her bar for the last three hours. 

An unkempt dwarf sat with his bearded face hovering over a tankard of ale. Anytime anyone had tried to sit next to him, he had drawn his eyes up in eager anticipation before quickly switching to an outright bitter aggression. Most left his side soon after, not wanting to put up with the muttered insults.

Kit slipped onto the stool next to him, smiling with amusement and an air of authority. He scoffed at her. “I don’t want another drink.”

“Well, at this point I’d say I’d need to cut you off with how much you’ve ordered but I have a feeling you’re doing it for show,” Kit said. “Who are you waiting for?”

“None of your business.”

“It’s my bar. Everything is my business.”

“Then throw me out.”

“You do know your denial is my confirmation. I could just let you sit here and when that someone finally does arrive, I could get all my answers from them.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a nosy bartender.” The dwarf took a long drink from his tankard.

“Downfall of the trade.” Waving over one of her employee’s, Kit signaled for another drink and a shot for herself. She put another tankard of dwarven ale down in front of him, noticing how travel worn his clothes were. He was a fighter, that much was for certain. “I may be able to help,” she said.

He snorted into his drink. “Doubtful.”

Kit eyed him as he took a long pull from his cup. She waited a beat before continuing. “Why don’t you just tell me what this person looks like? Maybe they’ve already passed through.”

“Dwarf,” he said gruffly. “I’d give you more description but you lot all think we look the same.”

“Clan?”

He shrugged.

“How are you going to tell who he is?”

“He’s looking for me. I don’t know what he looks like.”

It explained the looks at least. “Well, the drinks will keep coming until he shows up,” Kit said. “But stop sitting at my bar and scaring off the customers. You want to continue to look surly? Take it upstairs. It’s where the people who want to be left alone go. I see anyone come in looking for a shabby dwarf with a bad attitude, I’ll send them your way.” She grabbed his empty tankard. “I’ll send another drink up to you.”

Hurskin watched the bartender walk away, not exactly sure why he even told her what he did. It wasn’t like his dealings were a secret but he didn’t tend to advertise his agenda in case young ‘adventurers’ got it in their head to join him on a quest. Adventurers were the worst. You couldn’t get rid of them even if you shot them.

Upstairs the room was still packed but the bartender had been right. These were the people not looking to join in on the festivity’s downstairs. Most were hunched over their drink and keeping to themselves. Except for one dwarf. Standing on a chair, her cropped blonde hair sticking up in every direction, she swayed to the music below, singing off key. Her companion, a red skinned tiefling, kept her head bowed low, gripping her drink. Hurskin felt for the Tiefling and if there were any other open table, he may have even invited her to join him elsewhere just to get her away from such a display. But, as luck would have it, the only open seat was at their table. 

“Brother!” The blond dwarf cried out, sloshing some of her drink in joyous greeting. “Come and join us!” 

Hurskin sighed.

Today was just not his day.

Taking a seat at the small, round table, Hurskin contemplated ordering at least six more ales. It was beginning to look more and more like the guide he was waiting for would be a no show. Passing out here and starting again tomorrow seemed like a more desirable solution. That is if he didn’t think the ales at hand would put him in a drunken stupor and he’d wake tomorrow with only his belt buckle.

“What brings you to this fine establishment?” Sunny asked, finally sitting down in her chair. She gave a small wink to the gunslinger across the way. Despite the fact that he was not facing them head on, the faint blush that rose to his cheeks told Sunny he had gotten the message.

“Just waiting for a friend,” Hurskin said. The vagueness of his answer didn’t faze the two in front of him. “You?”

“Traveling,” Sunny said. “Just passing through. Tomorrow we will be off, ready to see new towns and enjoy the company of many new people.”

Hurskin eyed the tiefling. She had not looked up once from her drink. He highly doubted she felt the same as her companion.

“Excuse me.” A young girl stood nervously by Hurskin’s side, a tray of drinks in her hand. “The bartender sent me up with these. She also said that the one you are looking for should be on his way and she wants you to enjoy another drink, on her.”

As the tankard was put in front of him, Hurskin pushed it away. “I think I’m done with drinks here.” Not one to let good ale go to waste, Sunny grabbed it and tipped it towards him in cheers. “And how does she know who I am looking for?” 

The girl looked nervous at his gruff demeanor. “She… well, she just… she knows things? She said there was a mistake and he’s at the bar down the way. The Giggling Donkey.”

Sunny snorted loudly into her newly acquired drink. “Now that is a place we will have to visit.” 

“There is no way she knows that. I just talked to her five minutes ago.”

The girl bowed nervously. “I’m sorry, sir. Maybe I’m mistaken? I can go and ask…”

Hurskin was about to interrupt the girl and grill her further when he noticed the music had come to a stop. Down below, the tavern had gone into a hushed whisper. Turning in his seat, Hurskin could see a man near the banister, his hands ready on his weapons. Several more, disguised as patrons, stood to observe the scene below. 

A tall man had entered the bar, dressed in a royal blue uniform with fur lacing his collar. He took off his wide brimmed hat as he made his way through the crowd. Flanking him were men dressed in similar clothing, their hands place purposefully on their weapons. A few people stepped aside and bowed their head in respect. 

The man set his hat down on the bar top and exchanged hushed words with the bartender. She eyed him with clear annoyance but kept a smile plastered on her face. With a crook of her finger, she called forward one of the doormen. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement as trays were filled up with small shot glasses and waitresses quickly started to disperse them through the crowd.

“On the house!” 

The music resumed in a more frantic tempo and as everyone took the proffered shots willingly, but still remained slightly ill at east. Hurskin could see the purple haired bartender wipe her hands on her beer stained apron as she stepped out from behind her bar. She looked at the newcomer expectantly, one hand on her hip. As he passed her, she stepped in front of his guards and shook her head. Then, without a backwards glance, Kit opened a concealed door to her right and gestured the man with the wide brimmed hat, inside.

“We should go,” Ein whispered. 

Hurskin turned back to the dwarf and tiefling. “Just traveling, huh?”

~~~~~

“How many times do I need to tell you that if you wish to speak with me, you do it any other way than waltzing into my bar with armed guards?” Kit shut the door behind her and the Magistrate, her smile gone.

“And how many times do I need to remind you that you do not own this city. Nor do you have any power here.”

“Care to put that to the test?” 

The Magistrate took a seat and clasped his hands in his lap. He never much cared for the bartender, but he wasn’t going to deny that she had her finger on the pulse of this city more so than him. If she hadn’t remained useful to him, he probably would have had her killed long ago.

“I’m not here to argue.”

“No,” Kit responded. “You’re here to drive away my customers and ask for another favor.” The city feared the Magistrate and his little army. When Kit first moved to Dunholme, it was the first piece of advice on everyone’s lips. Don’t cross the Magistrate and his men. They were a group who took none to kindly to others believing to have more power.

So of course, it was exactly what Kit did. After proving her point, the Magistrate and her had come to a shaky agreement. Kit was allowed to remain in the city and the Magistrate no longer had his men picked off and placed among the garbage in the city alleys.

“I’m retiring,” he said after a moment. Kit sat down across from him. They were words that held more weight than she thought possible. “I came here as a courtesy. My replacement doesn’t see the value in trading for resources. He is more of a take what he wants kind of person.”

“You were too, if I recall.”

The Magistrate hummed in brief acknowledgment but did not dwell on how the years had tempered him. “He should be arriving soon if he is not here already. My suspicion is your establishment will be the first he will try to make an example of.”

“I can deal with him.”

The Magistrate cleared his throat and took a deep breath, gesturing to an impressive display of whisky bottles located within Kit’s personal stash. She rose to pour the two of them a drink; a custom they had shared many times before. “I mean this in earnest,” he said, taking the tumbler of whiskey. “I really hope you do.” 

It was a funny feeling in the end. They had been locked in a battle of wit, blackmail and out of pocket coin for three years. Now, the Magistrate was conceding the fight and offering her well wishes. Whoever was about to take office was obviously a force that was going to need to be dealt with swiftly.

“I wish you your best, Magistrate.” She reached out to shake his hand but he remained seated, his chin resting on steepled fingers. Kit smirked. “I should have known there was more.”

“I’m looking for a girl,” he said. “She was seen being picked up by that oaf of a creature you have at your door.”

“Well, you might have to be a tad more specific since over half my customers are these so called girls.”

“A seer. One with white eyes. I highly doubt you wouldn’t have noticed her.”

Kit resumed her seat and kicked back in her chair. “You’re right. Someone like that would peak my interest. But I’m afraid your men are mistaken. I haven’t seen a girl like that come in tonight.”

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe. But you know as well as I that if you arrest anyone in my establishment, every little skeleton you have tried to bury becomes public knowledge to all the wrong people. Retired or not, I doubt you want your wife to know what you do on Saturday nights.”

“Give her up, Kit. The next Magistrate will not be kind.”

Kit downed the rest of her drink. “This conversation is done.”

“She’ll have to leave eventually.”

Closing her eyes, Kit sighed. She should have kicked the triefling out the moment she stepped through the doors. But Kit had a soft spot for the lost. One look at that girl and Kit could tell that she was about a day’s journey from death. Seer’s didn’t last long in their world and she had walked right into a town crawling with elves. It was a miracle that this girl was still able to partake in a drink.

“Do a kind act before you step down from office. Maybe it’ll help ease your guilt late at night.”

The Magistrate chuckled a little and nodded at her sentiment. “I will consider it.”

“If?” There was always an if.

“There is a man, a dwarf I believe, heading towards the old Clan Mourngrym mines. Know of it?”

“Vaguely.” 

Clan Mourngrym was a group of mountain dwelling dwarves. Years ago, the majority of their clan fled from the mines. No one was really positive why. It had caused their numbers to dwindle enough that most had slowly died out. What they left behind, however, was said to be the items of legend.

“There is rumor that star metal is buried there.”

Kit laughed loudly at that. “Star metal is a myth they tell young dwarves. It’s a fairytale.”

“I have word saying it is not.”

“So what? In return for letting this seer go, I need to send one of my own out there to go get a hunk of metal that is probably just calcified dirt?”

“Actually, I’d prefer it if you ran this errand. I’ve seen your crew. I don’t trust them not to steel from me.”

“And while I’m gone, your new Magistrate can waltz right in, cause a scene, and while I know Damien out there would revel in having a few new trophies to add to his little necklace, I don’t fancy losing my bar.”

“Fine,” the Magistrate stood. “I’ll be waiting outside your establishment. I surely do hope there is no one else in here that I might have interest in as well.”

Off the top of her head, Kit knew of at least six patrons who's wanted posters hung within every alley. It would be a blatant break from any previous agreements they had in place but with the Magistrate days from retiring, Kit's leverage was dwindling.

Swirling the contents of her drink, Kit thought for a moment. It was within her to hold firm to power hungry jackasses like the Magistrate. But she also didn’t know how well she would sleep if she let good men and women hang all because she refused a milk run. “You’ll let her leave the city?”

“You have my word.”

“Hell of a request before retirement,” she commented.

“I would like to live out my retirement in comfort. You know as well as I do, city jobs pay shit.”

~~~~~

Jordy was standing at the ready as Kit and the Magistrate left the backroom. “The man you were looking for just showed. I sent him upstairs.”

It had been a hunch to see if the guide that the dwarf Hurskin had been looking for had gotten lost and wandered into the Giggling Donkey. The bartender there hated Kit and Kit was pretty positive that his bouncers were part siren. Men often commented of wandering in there without a thought as to why.

“Was he dwarven?”

Jordy nodded “Yeah. Little cleaner than the other guy.”

“Have you heard any whispers of Clan Mourngrym?” Kit kept her voice somewhat low, looking disinterested around her bar.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Want me to put out a few inquiries?”

“Not yet." The mood was visibly more somber, even as the Magistrate and his men left. “But the tiefling and that other dwarf that came in earlier? The one who has a thing for you? Don’t let them leave.”

“Do we need to expect trouble?” Jordy asked.

“Just keep your eye out for a new Magistrate. Old one says he’s a few days out but guys like that tend to take everyone by surprise.” 

The night wore on and people slowly started petering out. They hung from each other in drunken bliss as they spilled out onto the starlit streets. Hurskin and the dwarf he had been waiting for had left a few hours earlier, a spy on their tail. Upstairs, the tiefling still sat and while her companion was just as loud and boisterous as before, Kit could tell that she was drinking less. A defensive position was at the ready.

“Barmaid!” A man stood not two feet from Kit, a leer on his face. Dressed in a long cloak made of dragon hide, a single talon hung from a thick chord around his neck. He snapped his fingers at her, bemused when he caught a flash of her irritation. “Drink for me and my men.” The men in question shifted uncomfortably behind him. At closer look, they were the same guards that had escorted the Magistrate earlier.

Grabbing a tankard of ale and a few glasses, Kit made her way to the end of the bar. She motioned to Damien upstairs and out of the corner of her eye she saw that he had already disappeared from his post.

“The new Magistrate, I presume.”

“I see I already have a reputation.” His words dripped with a sickening sweetness that clearly noted how important he thought he was.

Pouring a few glasses worth of ale, Kit smiled slyly at them. “On the house.”

The man ran a finger over the rim of his glass, not taking his eyes off her. “Is it a policy to give out free drinks as often as you do?”

“I find it keeps people coming back.”

“A tavern is expensive to run,” the man mused. “I don’t see how you can do it if you keep giving everything away.”

Resting her elbows on the bar, Kit leaned forward. “If you would rather pay, I will not stop you.”

The man leaned forward, his breath brushing against her cheeks. “I don’t pay for drinks that are laced.” Picking up his mug, he poured the contents of it to the floor. “Now, I hear you are the woman to talk to if I need information. And since I am new to this town, I figured we should meet sooner rather than later. Given the fact that you just tried to poison me, I think it would be a gesture of good faith for you to offer up the whereabouts of the divine user that I know you have hidden in this bar.”

“With all due respect, go fuck yourself. You are not Magistrate yet.”

“Oh, but I am. A new Magistrate takes office immediately if the old Magistrate is seen unfit or is indisposed. Since I arrested him about twenty minutes ago, I’d say he is indisposed. So, again, where is she?”

“I have customers.” Kit turned to walk away but was jolted back as the man reached across the bar and grabbed her by the back of her apron. Jordy was by them instantly, his knife drawn, and Damien cocked his gun and aimed it at the Magistrates head. 

“Think your men can kill me before I let off a bullet?” Damien asked.

The Magistrate let go of Kit’s apron, flashing a set of yellowed teeth. His hair fell in front of his face in greasy strands of sweat. This man was going to cause Kit to lose her bar if she wasn’t careful and he would take everything she worked for with a smile on his face.

“Easy, boys.” Kit gave a small shake of her head to both Jordy and Damien. Jordy stepped back obediently. Damien took a beat longer to do so.

“Hand her over now and this incident is forgotten.”

“I do not know who you speak of,” Kit said, her hands up in a loose gesture of peace. “You think I would let someone touched by the divine in my bar? That’s a clear target on me. The second someone like that passes through my door they are quietly escorted away. We have no use for the gods here.”

“Now why do I find that hard to believe?”

The tension in the bar had put the festivities to rest. Kit could feel all eyes on them and she hoped that the tiefling upstairs was keeping her head down.

“You see, they say the gods have abandoned us,” the man began, holding court to the entire tavern. “They say they were so disappointed with our actions that they up and left us to bleed out on the street. When we die, they take no pity. There is no promise of betterment in any of our futures. There is just the here and the now and the people who are intelligent enough to know how to use that to their advantage.” His eyes were slowly traveling the room, locking gazes with anyone who met his stare. “Now, it is my experience, that these divine users, are rare. Because of this rarity, people seem to either fear them, or, think they have unbridled power. Either way, I don’t like someone like that in my city, challenging my authority. We don’t need demon blood wandering our streets and we certainly do not need one who thinks they are favored by the divine. So, if anyone has any information on where to find this girl, I’ll be waiting outside.”

Rising from his seat, the New Magistrate grinned down at the mess he had poured on the floor. “Might want to clean that up. Decorum is everything, after all.”

A flurry of noise followed the Magistrate as he left. Everyone leaned huddled together, talking fast. Some rose from their seats to quickly leave, and honestly, Kit couldn’t blame them. She had poured enough glamour into their drinks that night that she was pretty confident none of them would remember the tiefling sitting upstairs either.

“What are we going to do?” Jordy asked.

Kit pinched the bridge of her nose and headed upstairs. Damien followed behind her. Most of the people had vacated already and the few that had not were given drink tickets and sent downstairs. Pulling out a chair at the only table left with occupants, Kit twirled it around and sat down heavily.

“Why my bar?”

Ein lifted her gaze, the milk white of her eyes open in horror.

“Now look,” the dwarf started. “We didn’t come in here looking for trouble. In fact, your ogre was the one who pulled us in to begin with.”

“That man down there is looking for your head as a trophy. You being here means that he might want mine as well.”

Ein lifted her chin. “Then maybe you should talk to your doorman about who he invites in.”

Rubbing at her eyes, Kit gritted her teeth. She needed another drink. “I made a deal for you to have safe passage out of this city. I’m not sure any longer if that deal still stands but I would suggest you leave now before it becomes public knowledge who you are and that the old Magistrates orders don’t stand.”

“She can’t.” Jordy came bounding up the stairs two by two. “They locked us in.” There were a few frantic cries down below as someone tried to open the door. “They have the windows blocked and there are at least thirty of them waiting outside. We were trapped from the second he stepped foot in our door.”

“Where’s Mathius?” Damien’s tone was low.

Jordy swallowed heavily. “I don’t know.”

Kit’s hand went down to the dagger she had concealed at her waist. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to Ein.

Sunny stood, drawing her weapon and placing herself in front of Ein. 

Placing a hand on Kit’s arm, Damien applied gentle pressure, forcing Kit to turn to him. There weren’t many who dared to lay a hand on the likes of Kit and it was obvious that she didn’t take kindly to his gesture. Despite the fact that Damien knew what the woman could do, he also knew her heart. Loyalty demanded that she be torn but allegiance knew what had to be done.

“This is not how we do things,” he intoned.

“People are going to die,” Kit gritted out. “We give her up, we live another day.”

“Until the next time around when we are harboring someone else he wants. Someone we know.” Sliding his hand down her arm, Damien grabbed ahold of the hilt of the knife. “We protect them. We don’t sell people out for our own gain.”

Kit jerked away but sheathed her knife. Taking a few steps back from the group, aware that Sunny still had her weapon drawn and Ein looked like she was about to flee, Kit ran her hand through her hair.

“Jordy, get everyone that’s left in the tavern out through the tunnels.” 

Jordy didn’t wait for further instruction. He ran downstairs and started shuffling people out through a hidden trap located beneath a few crates behind the bar.

“Suggestions?” Kit asked Damien.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“I never do.”

Damien breathed deeply; a man resigning himself to what needed to be done. “We can’t leave any evidence behind. If this new Magistrate gets a hold of a scrap of the information we have in here, the rebellion may as well surrender.”

Kit’s eyes darkened. “No.”

“It’s the only way.”

Jordy came running back upstairs, panting. “Everyone is through. There was only about a dozen left.”

“Jordy,” Damien said. “Pack up. You’ve got ten minutes.”

Both Jordy and Damien departed, leaving Kit with Sunny and Ein. Sunny’s stance had loosened somewhat as she listened to the conversation. Gleaming about half of what was said, she started to feel a bit more hopeful with their situation. It didn’t mean that she trusted the bartender and her crew. She would just have to stay close to Ein and protect the young tiefling as best she could.

“Drink up and let’s go.” Kit motioned to the half full goblets on the table. Downstairs bottles were clanking as they were shoved in bags and the scrape of tables being pushed across wooden floors echoed in the nearly empty tavern.

Ein and Sunny followed Kit downstairs, noticing the way the bartender took everything in, drinking in the sight of the Silver Fox.

“Um, not to break up a moment here, but what is happening? We taking a stand? Fighting our way out?”

Kit snorted. “We’d die.”

“Then we die trying,” Sunny spoke passionately. “I’m not afraid to take a stand. Let ‘em in. We’ll die with their blood on our blades.”

“Or,” Jordy said, “you can follow me and we can also escape through the tunnels.”

Sunny’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That. Let’s do that.”

As Sunny and Jordy made their way to the trap door, Ein hesitated. She looked at Kit, surveying her bar, and Damien, placing small piles of black powder throughout the room.

“We’re good.” Damien put a hand on Kit’s shoulder and squeezed. She nodded once, swallowing heavily and then turned towards the trap door.

“Is that…?” Ein questioned but Kit ushered her forward.

“We got to go.”

The ladder into the sewers was long and rickety. It stretched down into the dark damp earth beneath. The temperature dropped as they descended and the heavy stench of dirt and mildew permeated the air around them. About halfway down the ladder, Ein jumped, nearly losing her grip. A loud boom shook the cavern around them, sending dirt and debris racing to the bottom floor. It was followed by several more booms and the sound of shattering glass.

“You owe me a new bar,” Kit muttered to Damien. They descended the rest of the way down into the tunnels in silence as the Silver Fox burned above.


	2. Chapter Two

The Mourngrym clan was dead.

Years ago, they thrived among the mines in the World’s End Mountains. They were said to be expert craftsman and smelted blades that made grown men weep. The dwarves of this clan were prideful people and they fought hard to maintain the same status that others had come to expect out of them. They were wise. They were hardworking. They knew nothing other than perfection.

One day they fled the mines and left behind their birthright to rot in the settling dust.

Hurskin grew up hearing the noble tales of his people and when he saw what they had become, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Something had taken the soul from his clan, the heart of what they were, and while many had adventured to try and reclaim what was once lost, they never returned. Through the years their numbers dwindled and the Mourngrym clan was forgotten.

Now it wasn’t on purpose that Hurskin had set out to these mines. Yet, one evening, over many tankards of mead, a rumor had sparked. It was said that the Mourngrym mines were haunted. That the thing that drove the clan from the mines depths to begin with, was still there. If it could be defeated, if someone were to say, slay the beast within, then Mourngrym's could once again take their rightful place among the revered dwarven craftsman.

Hurskin was three cities closer to the mines before he came out of his drunken stupor and truly thought about what he was doing. Setting off towards an unknown mountain, towards a mine that had long been buried, he aimed to defeat a mythical creature that may or may not exist. If it did exist, it had wiped out over half the Mourngrym populace. Despite the odds, Hurskin still believed he could slay the creature and place it's head on a pike as a gift for his people. He would be a prince among heroes.

Honestly though, Hurskin expected to get there and find some shoddy dwarven armor that had rusted in last year’s monsoon and maybe a token or two he could bring back to help spin a more elaborate tale.

It was this conviction that had led him into a sprawling wood just outside the town of Dunholme. He was following a dwarf that he had known for less than six hours because this guide had been too drunk to realize he was at the wrong bar for their rendezvous. 

The Verduran woods were thick with trees that were blanketed with heavy layers of moss. Dew gathered among fallen logs and soft patches of grass made for inviting beds for the occasional doe or weary traveler. In other words; it was like every forest Hurskin had traveled through. Green, wet, and smelling sickeningly clean.

“This path,” his ‘guide’, if you could call him that, pointed to a dirt road heading North. They were at the edge of Dunholme and while Hurskin didn’t particularly like the woods, he was happy enough to put space between himself and the damn town with the fox bar. The bartender was some sort of witch. Putting things in drinks probably to make more tips. Hurskin had spent more coin there than he normally did at a none dwarven establishment and the only explanation for that was witchcraft. It was with great relief when his guide had finally shown and suggested they set out immediately. The Silver Fox had been in flames as they had left the city. While Hurskin would have loved to stick around and see the meddling bartenders face as her establishment burned, they had lost too much time already.

“I can only take you so far,” the guide said. “I won’t go to the old Mourngrym mines.”

“You don’t actually believe the stories.”

The guide grunted. “Doesn’t matter if I believe them or not. People go missing there. I have a son and a daughter back home and a thriving business. I’m not tossing it for a good story.”

“You’ve been living among city folk too long, my friend.” The guide did not respond to Hurskin; only continued walking in the general direction of the old mines. Hurskin was starting to question why he even hired the guy. The dwarf didn’t even realize they were being followed.

At first, Hurskin had ignored the lurker, figuring it to be a harmless scout. But it was becoming clear that something was on the horizon they weren’t supposed to see. Their lurker was getting sloppy. Hurskin couldn’t see him but he could hear the general direction he was in without even trying.

“Elf,” he said under his breath. It had to be an elf. They were sneaky bastards that took too much joy in becoming one with the foliage.

The thing about elves though, was that they rarely made the first move. Too noble and high up on their proverbial horse to get dirty unless provoked. Hurskin, however, was on a time crunch.

Bending down, Hurskin picked up a rock, hefting it in his hands. It had a good weight, nice and round, a bit smooth. Shrugging, he lobbed it in the general direction of where he assumed the elf to be. The rock hit something with a solid thunk.

That’s when the elves rushed from the woods.

Both Hurskin and the guide unsheathed their weapons and planted their feet firmly against the onslaught. They swung with precision, ducking out of the way as arrows wizzed by their ears. One grazed the edge of Hurskin’s beard and nicked the skin beneath. Tasting a faint tang of copper on his lips, Hurskin grinned and thrust his blade towards the nearest elf. The elf’s flesh split open like a ripe piece of fruit, running juicy to the forest floor.

“So, they can bleed!” Hurskin shouted. Pretentious bastards acted as if their blood were gold and their shit were diamonds. They wouldn’t have to scrounge in the forest and work for asshole magistrates if that were the case.

Swinging his blade around, Hurskin felt it connect with the soft underbelly of a blonde-haired elf. The thing looked at him in a moment of rage before it’s face contorted in pain and went lax. Hurskin twisted his blade just to make sure the thing was truly dead.

As another one came rushing towards him, he tried to pull his sword free, kicking at the elf with the toe of his boot. Cursing under his breath he let his sword go and pulled his ax from the sheath on his back. The elf’s blade glanced off his side and knocked his aim askew. Rounding his shoulders, Hurskin bent low and barreled towards his attacker, knocking him right in the knees. The elf went down, lashing out as he went but Hurskin spit wildly, flashing yellowing teeth and a crazed look from behind his beard. The elf looked afraid for a moment before gaining composure. It was the moment that Hurskin needed. Gripping his ax, he swung upwards, cleaving the elf with one outstretched arm. Then, from his right, his guide brought down a hand ax into the elf’s skull. The last thing the elf saw before it died was Hurskin’s impressed face and an admiration for his guide’s finely crafted weapon.

“One got away,” the guide said, looking off into the woods as he pulled his ax free. The elf hit the ground with a soft thud. Moss was also good for disguising the way a body sounded as it hit the floor.

Taking the hilt of his sword, Hurskin pulled, trying to pry it lose from the first body that went down. 

“Damn elf. Even in death it’s greedy.”

“Should we go after it?”

“After what?” He managed to pull the ax free. It was covered in a chunky viscera and Hurskin seriously considered abandoning the blade all together. It wasn’t particularly well made. It was one he had picked up in a pinch when the last one broke.

“The elf who ran.”

“Nah. Let the thing go tell the others. Would love to see how he explains to his superiors how his squad was taken down by two dwarves.”

Hurskin chuckled slightly at the thought. For far too long creatures like the elves felt entitled to this world. They took what they wanted, they fought simply because someone hit them with a rock, and they did it all with an air of arrogance that made Hurskin’s blood boil. While Hurskin didn’t ever seek out a fight, he wasn’t opposed to one when it found him. Especially if that fight involved knocking down a race of forest frolicking, knife ears.

“H-help?”

The voice was small. Not because it was far away but because it was hesitant as to who it was calling out to. Hurskin frowned, looking in the general direction of where he had thrown the rock that had started it all. People underestimated the power of a good rock throw.

“Please?”

The clearing wasn’t too far from where they fought. Just barely beyond a cluster of trees. They followed the small voice with caution and each time she cried out, Hurskin felt a part of himself soften. The woman, whoever it was, sounded unsure but her voice was melodic even in sorrow.

The cage sat among a mottle of thickets. It was unclear whether the intention was to keep the creature trapped inside or to move her later. But the cage itself was obviously not going anywhere. A fact that the woman inside seemed to be very aware of.

She was pale and almost ethereal in dress. She clung to the bars, slim fingers wrapping around wooden poles, a pair of shackles hanging bloodily from her wrists. Upon seeing the dwarves enter the clearing she brightened, but only slightly.

Hurskin eyed the woman carefully. She was beautiful, despite not being a dwarf, and for a moment, he was speechless. She was clearly elven but there was something more about her. Something that set her apart from the ones he just buried his blade in.

Not sure what he was supposed to say to the doe eyed woman, Hurskin blurted the first thing that came to his mind.

“You’re in a cage.”

Blond ringlets fell over her shoulder as she cocked her head to the side. Hurskin's guide grunted his acknowledgment towards the caged woman but didn’t try to help her. Instead, he began to rummage through the equipment the dead elves had left behind.

Hurskin began to look around as the silence stretched between all of them. There had to be a key somewhere. While the cage was wooden, Hurskin had no doubt that it was woven with something unbreakable.

Finding a small silver key among the supplies belonging to the dead elves, Hurskin dug it out and headed back towards the woman. Her eyes traced his movements as she learned what she could before he released her from her prison.

Grabbing at the padlock, Hurskin inserted the key.

“You’ll just free me? No questions asked?” Her voice was soft and lilting. It was the kind of sweetness you didn’t encounter in the middle of the woods without dire consequences.

“Don’t like seeing people locked up,” Hurskin muttered. Turning the key, he heard the lock click. 

She stepped down from her prison, her bare feet ghosting the dewy ground. Hurskin immediately took a step back. Her smile was radiant as she took in a deep lungful of fresh, forest air and… stretched her wings.

“That’s not normal,” the guide commented, pausing mid loot. Hurskin briefly regretted not asking those questions before turning the key.

“Do not be afraid,” the elven woman said, as if her words alone should be enough assurance. “I am Avienda. I mean no harm.”

Hurskin narrowed his eyes. “Then why were you locked up?” While he didn’t know much about elves, he did know they didn’t make a habit of incarcerating their own. Usually they reserved that for every other race they came across.

Avienda cocked one brow at him and pointedly flexed her wings.

“Right,” Hurskin muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Winged elves were probably a pretty rare thing. “So, what are you then? Half bird?”

Her laugh was like a tinkling of bells dancing across his skin. It was clear that this thing was a bit more than what she said. Only sirens could have such a pull.

“Not bird. Nor siren either.” He looked at her startled. Damn mind reader. “I am part celestial. On my mother’s side.”

“Usually those are considered abominations.” Races weren’t supposed to mix with other races.

“Is that what you see?” She held her arms out slightly, twisting a little. “An abomination.”

Clearing his throat, Hurskin kicked at the ground. “Well, my name’s Hurskin and that’s….” he hesitated at the other dwarf’s name. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t caught it. “That’s Guide.”

“Thank you, Hurskin,” Avienda said genuinely. She went to a small pile of rags. It looked like it had been thrown there haphazardly among a few other things. “I would like you to have this as a token of my gratitude.” She dug through the rags and pulled out a long sword. “It is dwarven made. I’m afraid I have no use for it and when the elves took it from me, I don’t think they recognized the craftsmanship.”

“More like they didn’t care.” Hurskin looked at the blade. It truly was a work of art. Curved in all the right places. Its handle glinted in a deep gold and was inlaid with bone. Hurskin would know that design anywhere.

“It’s said to be from the Mourngrym clan,” Avienda said. “They were once among the finest dwarven crafters. I would like you to have it. May it serve you well.”

Hurskin stepped towards the offered blade hesitantly. He was no fool. Walking in the woods, on the way to his clans old mines, he just happened to meet a winged elf who just happened to be carrying a sword of the Mourngrm clan? Even he knew the signs of a trap. But the sword was nice. And technically it belonged to him.

Reaching out, he took the blade. The weight felt right in his hands. Trap or no, it wasn’t a gift he was about to refuse. “Well, I – uh. I guess you’re under our protection now.”

Avienda frowned. “Why?”

“Because, well, I don’t really know why. But I’m in a hurry and I can’t just leave you here. Plus one got away and…”

“One of them got away?” She looked alarmed for a moment, her eyes scanning the trees around them. 

“Then I think I will take you up on your offer and travel with you. I suggest we get as much ground between us and this place.”

“Won’t argue with you there.” Hurskin looked at Guide. The dwarf rose with a new pack of weaponry and without a word, began to walk. He didn’t look back to see if they were following. Hurskin just assumed it was because he didn’t like his new name.

~~~~~

Sunny walked leisurely through the winding underground cavern, following the bartender and watching the ass of her glorious, half orc friend. Ein stuck close to her side and somewhere behind them was that gunslinger.

Sunny knew Ein was on edge. The calamity up above was about her, and more than likely, word would spread to the next few towns to be on the lookout for a tiefling and a dwarf. But Sunny couldn’t quite bring herself to worry when she had such a sight in front of her.

They paused as the tunnels split, Kit looked down each of them before deciding on apparently the best path. Sunny tore her eyes away from Jordy’s backside long enough to observe this. No one had really spoken since entering the caverns, other than the occasional whisper. But Sunny figured they were in the clear now. If anything was following them, they would have made their presence known much sooner.

“So, who are you really?” Sunny asked, smirking a bit at Kit.

“A bartender.” Kit studied the tunnel, narrowing her eyes momentarily before picking up the pace.

“Nah. Bartenders don’t tend to carry enough explosives to blow up their own bar.”

“They do if they set up shop in a city overran by elves.”

“Do they also make sure their bar has a secret passage that leads to tunnels four miles long and out of the city?”

“Yes.”

Sunny snorted in laughter. Beside her, Ein shot her a look.

They had been traveling through the dark tunnels for close to two hours. Sunny figured they were deep enough under the city that they wouldn’t hear anything above but she did try to keep alert. When it became clear that they weren’t being followed, she started to let her mind wander to help pass the time.

Ein and her were truly just traveling from town to town. Sunny had met Ein a few months back and saved the tiefling from a group of mercenaries wanting to sell her off and make armor out of her red skin. She had killed each one of them slowly and then introduced herself to the white eyed tiefling and suggested they get a drink. Sunny had since learned that traveling with a tiefling was an open target on your back, and traveling with one who apparently was touched by the divine meant they never got out of a city without some sort of scuffle. Not that Sunny minded much. It wasn’t like she was doing anything else right now. All she needed was to get some distance between her and her past. Might as well travel with a sought after divine user and have some fun.

“What about you, Jordy?” Jordy glanced over his shoulder at Sunny. “Where do you hail from?”

“A small village,” he answered. “Nothing too exciting.”

“And you just left one day to be the doorman at someone’s bar? Nah, there’s a story there.”

Jordy blushed a bit, but didn’t answer. It intrigued Sunny even further. She certainly loved a mystery and there was obviously something about the little group of miscreants in front of her.

“The exit is up ahead.” Damien made his way around both Sunny and Ein and headed towards Kit. He had kept his distance the last few hours. One, to protect them in case anything snuck up from behind and two, for fear that Kit might stab him.

“I can smell it,” Kit muttered.

Sunny took in a big whiff of air. It did smell cleaner up ahead.

Jordy was hefting his pack higher on his back. He had enough alcohol in his bag to start up a traveling bar if they really wanted to. “What the plan then? We get out there, circle back and…”

“No circling back,” Kit said.

Jordy stopped. Sunny and Ein both nearly ran into him. “Mathius is back there.”

Kit couldn’t quite meet Jordy’s eyes. “He would have been clear from the blast.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Jordy, we can’t go back.” She was trying to keep her voice low, aware of the onlookers, but with narrow cavern walls and a half orc that was refusing to budge, it was a moot point.

“How can you say that? After everything? Kit, he is ours. I thought we never left one of our own behind.”

“We don’t but…”

“But it’s okay in this instance because it doesn’t suit your needs?”

“That’s not fair.”

“Neither is leaving Mathius to rot with a bunch of elves.” As Damien stepped in front of Kit, Jordy snorted in laughter. “Oh, go ahead. Leave your human to do your dirty work. I see how it is.”

“Rethink this, Jordy,” Damien said, his hand near his gun.

Kit pushed Damien aside almost as quickly as he moved to protect her. “You think this is how I want to do this?” she hissed. “You think I like the idea of leaving him there? He’s not a fighter. If he came with us, he would die. Or one of us would trying to protect him.”

Jordy’s lip curled in a sneer but he didn’t pull away as Kit took his hand and squeezed it hard.

“It’s Mathius,” he repeated softly. “He doesn’t know how this world works.”

“We have friends. They’ll take care of him.” Kit said. She had to believe that the ogre was safe. Out of all of them, he was the purest. Wasn’t the world supposed to protect their innocent?

Jordy closed his eyes, trying to regain some amount of control. He nodded curtly at Kit before pushing past both her and Damien.

Sunny watched the exchange and glanced at Ein. She didn’t seem to be listening, or maybe she just didn’t care. “So again, what are you guys really?”

No one answered Sunny as they began their accent towards the caverns opening.

Light began to filter in through the cracks in the cavern walls while their legs got that small ache as they began to travel uphill. The distant sound of birds and the faint brush of wind echoed around them and almost without warning, the narrow and endless caverns opened into a lush forest dappled with sunlight. They all squinted slightly as they adjusted to their surroundings.

“I’d keep that one at a distance,” they heard someone say. “Given the state of her bar when we left, I doubt she’s in a generous mood.”

Sunny squinted a bit. The first thing she saw was Kit’s passive face; a trait she was beginning to learn hid most of the woman’s anger. As her eyes moved passed her she watched as an elven woman came through the clearing, along with two dwarves.

“Brothers!” she shouted.

Hurskin visibly winced.

“What are you doing out here?” Damien had his pistols drawn, his eyes mainly on the winged elf.

Stepping forward, Kit placed her hand on his arm and shook her head. She leaned in and whispered something to him and slowly, he lowered his gun.

“You greet everyone like that?” Hurskin asked, eyeing the gunslinger.

“Distrust keeps you alive,” Damien said. Hurskin seemed to be okay with this answer and gave the man a slight nod before turning his attention to the rest of the group.

“Well, I’d say nice to see ya but, you know.” He gave a small wave and started walking away. The winged elf looked as if she were about to protest, unclear about the situation at hand, while the guide was clearly rethinking how much he should charge for this excursion.

“You going to World’s End Mountains?” Kit called after them. Hurskin froze. “Mourngrym clan, right?”

“What do you know about Clan Mourngrym?” Tales of demons and unspeakable horrors most likely. The mines were everyone’s favorite nightmare.

“Nothing. I don’t even want to know. But I need to keep a deal and rumor has it that what I need is in those mines.”

“A deal?” Hurskin laughed. “What deal could you possibly want to keep? Your entire bar just blew up. You’re not going back to that town.”

Kit held his stare. “A deal’s a deal.”

“You’re not coming with me.”

“Fine,” Kit shrugged. “I’ll follow you at a distance.”

“I could lose you.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Sunny whipped her head back and forth between Hurskin and Kit before breaking out into a broad grin. “Well slap my uncle and call me son of an ogre. I do believe we just formed an adventuring group!”

Both Hurskin and Kit looked at Sunny with horrified expressions.

“We don’t need to go with them,” Ein said under her breath. She had a feeling that after getting Kit’s bar blown up, she was the last thing the bartender wanted to see.

“Oh, come on, Ein. Friends. I hear it’s good to make them. Besides, where else is safer than with a bunch of dwarves and a psychotic group willing to use explosives just to make a hasty escape with a group of people they haven’t even met? I’d say the safest place for you right now, is right here with this crazy lot.”

Ein really should have argued that point. But Sunny had a knack for making herself sound unquestionably right even if she was so very wrong.

Holding out her arm to Jordy, Sunny winked. “Shall we?”

~~~~~

Later that night the party made it to a clearing with minimal bickering. Hurskin only muttered something under his breath every few miles, clearly directing it towards Kit, but all in all, everyone seemed content to just keep walking. The more distance between them and Dunholme, the better.

As they were preparing camp, Avienda went to scout ahead. According to Kit, elves patrolled the woods heavily and rarely asked before slaughtering whatever they came across.

“What’s with the winged girl, Hurskin?” Sunny asked, rolling out her pack and looking up at the stars.

Hurskin shrugged. He was leaning against a log near the roaring fire, eyeing the gunslinger with open contempt. No one should be carrying guns. They didn’t belong here. Though, Hurskin wasn’t going to lie. The contraption did intrigue him. He had only heard of the things. Never had quite seen one up close and personal before.

“Don’t know. Found her in a cage and rescued her.”

“Sleep with her yet?” Sunny waggled a brow.

“Only low-class dwarves sleep with other races.”

“You have no idea what you’re missing then.” Jordy avoided Sunny’s watchful eyes as he placed more wood on the fire. Sunny let out a low chuckle at the smile she saw dance across his lips.

“Seems quiet,” Damien said, sitting next to Kit. She was currently observing Ein as the tiefling paced the edge of the clearing, muttering to herself. Or to someone. Kit had seen Oracles before, had even ran with one for a time or two, but none quite like Ein. The girl seemed more innocent than the other divine users Kit had come across. She was blindingly naïve.

“You really sure we should be traveling in such a large party?” Damien continued.

Kit took her eyes away from Ein and tossed a few twigs into the fire. “I’m sorry. Are you attempting a conversation with me?”

“Really? You’re going to do this?”

“You blew up my bar. The first time I could forgive but the second time is starting to make it feel like habit.”

“Hold it,” Hurskin yelled. “This is the second bar that’s gone up in flames?” He looked at Damien and Kit before bursting out into deep peals of laughter. Kit was pretty certain he would start rolling on the ground any minute.

“Again, I ask, you sure we should be traveling with them?” Damien whispered.

Kit sighed, leaning into Damien’s side. It was the only offer of forgiveness he was going to get. “We take the help we get when we can get it,” she said, muffled against his shoulder. She rested there a few moments, letting the fire heat her face, before pulling away. “When we are done, you owe me a new bar.”

Damien’s lips twitched slightly. “We’ll see.”

Kit was about to retaliate when she heard a twig snap. Grabbing her blades, she stood quickly, looking off into the forest. Immediately, everyone was on guard.

“Where?” Hurskin intoned quietly.

“Maybe about twenty feet in,” Kit whispered.

“Ein.” Sunny’s voice raised slightly to get the tiefling’s attention. She was looking into the woods in a daze. Then, all at once, she ducked down, just as an arrow came sailing over her head.

Six elves came from the trees. Two loud shots cracked through the air as Damien fired his pistols. The sound of blades clashing against metal soon filled the small campsite. Ein crouched as low as she could and stayed out of the way, muttering healing spells whenever she saw someone get hit.

Sunny let out a whoop as she launched herself at one of the elves, hitting him dead center with a backstab. The elf promptly jumped out of her way and kicked outward, trying to get the best of her. Sunny was quicker though. She grinned at her attacker, swiping at him with her blades and watching as he began to retreat into the woods.

“Oh no you don’t,” she laughed. Elves liked to separate a fight. Dwarves liked to be in the thick of it all. Gripping one of her blades she threw it. It landed with a wet thunk right between the elf’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Kit ran towards the edge of the woods, chasing the two trying to lure them through the forest. “They’re in the tree’s,” she shouted. She could see arrows coming out of the dark and landing near her companions feet.

Kicking out, she managed to trip one of the elves and was on him quickly. Behind her, she heard another crack of Damien’s gun. The elf to her right dropped. With both her knives, Kit drove them into the elf beneath her. He bucked in agony and clawed at her arm. She could feel the sticky pool of blood but drove her weight down on him further. He was dead in the span of two breathes.

From behind her, Hurskin let out a loud yell, swinging his new found sword in one mighty arc, severing the arm of the elf that had ran from him earlier. The thing spat at him as blood drenched its side. Picking up a spare arrow it drove it into Hurskin’s shoulder and twisted. Using the momentum, Hurskin pulled the elf closer before shoving him back hard. The elf slammed into a nearby tree and found Hurskin’s sword embedded in his chest before he could recover.

“We got three more,” Sunny yelled, moving as close to Ein as possible to protect the small tiefling. Ein was still muttering under her breath, a golden glow surrounding her and Sunny.

“Damien!” Kit yelled, motioning towards the trees. The gunslinger aimed into the darkness and let off three different pops. One by one bodies fell to the ground. Then all went silent.

“Everyone okay?” Damien asked.

“Bastard stabbed me with a blunt arrow,” Hurskin said, wincing as he rolled his shoulder and pulled the arrow free.

Kit looked down at the scratches on her arm. The blood was already clotting and while her skin was turning an angry shade of purple, she’d heal.

“Um, I don’t think we’re all okay.” It was Ein who spoke up. She was looking out towards the very edge of their clearing, her eyes sorrowful. A body lay panting on the ground.

“Oh god,” Sunny whispered, going suddenly pale.

Kit rushed towards Jordy, skidding to her knees to take in the damage. His breathes were shallow. An arrow protruded from his right eye.

“Jordy?” Kit tried to wipe some of the blood from his face but it just kept weeping from his wound. The half orc didn’t respond and Kit could feel his breathes slowing. “Damien,” she called desperately. “Do something.”

Damien stood behind her, looking down at their friend, but remaining silent. Kit shook her head frantically, continuing to try and rouse him, her hands running over his sides to check for any other wounds as her mind raced to think of anything she might have in her pack that could help.

A small hand rested on her arm. Kit snapped her head up to see Ein. “Let me help.” Reaching out with both her hands, Ein laid them on either side of Jordy’s face. The tiefling closed her eyes and bowed her head. Kit fell back as light emanated from her, blindingly bright and warm. It engulfed both her and Jordy, encircling them in an orb of golden mist before bursting and trickling down to the ground like fallen stars.

Ein still kneeled, panting.

“Is he…?” Sunny asked having taken a few steps closer.

“He’ll be okay,” Ein said, taking in a deep lungful of air before looking up at them. Her white eyes swam with a grey murk before clearing completely. “But he is going to need medical attention. I think I only bought him some time.”

Kit rose to her feet, her jaw set in a harsh line as she turned to Damien. “Take him.”

Damien nodded in understanding, gathering his and Jordy’s things quickly and without argument. Then, leaning down, he picked up the half orc.

“Damien, you leave him whole,” Kit said, staring the gunslinger down. She swallowed thickly but did not waver.

“You know I can’t promise that,” Damien said sadly.

She took a step up to the man, lifting her chin in an attempt to match his height. “You leave him whole,” she gritted out. Then, softening her gaze, she turned her eyes to Jordy. Reaching out, she brushed her hand against his cheek before turning away.

Kit didn’t watch as Damien and Jordy departed. She instead gathered her things. No one argued with her when she let them know if was time to continue on.


	3. Chapter Three

The clatter of a well-traveled road echoed around them, yet they stuck to the thick of the forest. Two attacks in less than a day, a burned down bar, and a mortally injured companion, all added up to the need for anonymity. 

Occasionally, another traveler would pass and bid them good afternoon but the group in large had an unapproachable air about them. It was unclear if this was due to recent events or the winged elf they were traveling with.

Avienda had returned from her scouting mission to a somber camp that was hastily being packed away. Sunny had quickly explained what had transpired during her scouting mission. Though the dead elves at their feet told a much bigger story. Gathering her things, Avienda followed after them silently, noticing how Kit refused to meet her eyes. She now traveled with her green cloak tightly hugged to her in an effort to hide her wings. Every snap of a twig that sounded through the forest put them all on guard.

“Weren’t you supposed to have a guide?” Ein asked Hurskin. She kept her voice intentionally low.

Hurskin looked around but didn’t see Guide anywhere. They had packed up camp so quickly that he really hadn’t given the other dwarf much thought. Apparently, Guide had not followed them. Had he even been back from scouting? Had he even gone scouting?

Hurskin shrugged. “He was a terrible guide anyway.”

“But,” Ein said hesitantly. “Do we know how to get to the mines?”

“Good question,” Hurskin said. “Hey!” His voice echoed through the trees. Ahead, Kit’s shoulders bunched. “Do you even know where you’re going?”

“General direction, yeah,” Kit answered.

“Then why’d you need me?”

“Need is not a word I’d use in relation to you. I should make that clear.” Kit kept her eyes ahead, tracking something that the rest weren’t privy to. “It just seemed silly to walk in the same direction, only two minutes apart. But if you would like to do that, by all means, walk on ahead. I’ll give you a five-minute head start.”

“So,” Hurskin drawled. “take your bodyguard away and all pretense of helpful bartender vanishes, huh?”

“Pretense is a big word for you. Surprised you know it.”

“Oh, the things I know could fill a book. For example, I know it is bad business practice to keep burning down your own bar. Also, future tip, might want to look for a new doorman. One eyed half orcs don’t attract the best clientele.”

Ein gave Hurskin a sideways glance, about to come to Kit's defence. She thought better of it upon seeing the tight set of the woman's jaw. Besides, Ein was partially responsible for what had happened. She doubted her words would mean much to the woman.

“I think tensions are running high,” Avienda said gently. “Maybe we should stop for the afternoon. Rest. Eat something?”

Sunny stretched loudly before plopping down to the forest floor in agreement. “I’m all for that.” She flopped back onto a patch of rocky dirt and wiggled a little to get comfortable. Unlike the others, she could care less if they made it to these mines. She was just along for the ride.

Ein shrugged and sat down next to Sunny, happy to relieve herself of her pack. Avienda, however, remained standing, creating a barrier between Kit and Hurskin. The dwarf and bartender stared each other down, willing for the other to give in first.

“Oh,” Sunny muttered. “This is fun.”

Running a hand through her hair in frustration, Kit closed her eyes and counted to five. Then, “I’m going to scout ahead. Make sure we aren’t about to have another run-in like this morning.” She gestured vaguely to the group. “My pack has some food in it. A lot of alcohol. Help yourself.” Kit took off into the woods with just her daggers and a small satchel. It was unclear whether she intended to return.

Hurskin began to rummage through his own pack, muttering something about not trusting the alcohol.

Avienda looked nervous. “I think someone should go with her.”

“She’s fine.” Finding an unopened bottle of mead, Hurskin leaned back against a nearby log and popped the cork with his teeth. He took a long gulp and sighed pleasantly.

“No, I just mean….” Avienda looked off towards where Kit had disappeared. She didn’t know the woman well but her fear over the fate of her friends was palpable. “She might not be thinking clearly. Her friends weigh heavy on her mind.”

“Pretty sure one of them was more than a friend,” Sunny muttered. No one acknowledged her though, nor did they seem to be in any hurry after Kit.

With a groan, Sunny rose to her feet, her movements stiff. There had been an altercation at a bar about three cities back and while Sunny wouldn’t admit it, there was a small chance that her limbs were still recovering. “Alright, I volunteer. But if she shoots me, I’m blaming Hurskin.”

Hurskin batted a hand at Sunny, clearly unconcerned with the threat. If anything, he was looking forward to the peace. At least the tiefling was quiet. She preferred to hold conversations with thin air from what he could tell.

It didn’t take Sunny long to catch up to Kit. She wasn’t even a mile from camp. Crouching behind some bushes, Kit was looking intently out at a small dirt road. Sunny could see a makeshift bridge up a head. It stretched out over what looked to be a dried up river bank.

A man stood at the mouth of the bridge. His clothes boasted nothing special except for the adornment of a wide brimmed hat with a belt buckle for decoration.

“He’s stopping anyone that comes by,” Kit whispered.

Sunny crouched next to her. “How did you know I was here?”

“Your left foot comes down heavier than your right,” Kit said off handedly. She pointed to the man up ahead. “Look.”

The man had pulled over a small wagon. The driver seemed non pulsed nor did anyone seem concerned when the man ducked his head inside the carriage without invitation. Sunny could see a flash of blue inside but no sign of distress. The man grinned broadly at the driver as he nodded cordially at whoever was inside. A few words were exchanged but nothing more. No one pulled a weapon. No one looked threatened. The exchange was simply pleasant.

“Maybe he’s lost,” Sunny said.

“So he continues to stand on a bridge and greet anyone that passes by?”

Sunny stood from where she was crouched. “You, are paranoid.” Walking straight through the bushes, Sunny put on her best smile and lifted her arm in a wave. “Hello,” she called out. She could hear Kit curse from behind her as she scrambled to her side.

The man was older than what they had originally observed. White streaked hair peaked out from beneath his hat and his eyes were wrinkled around the edges. There was an unnatural paleness to his pallor and Sunny almost suggested that he follow them back to camp for a decent meal. Through the years she found that a good plate of food, a goblet of mead, and a warm body to spend the evening with did wonders for the complexion. Though she didn’t think there was a warm body that would want this man but that was a digression.

“Greetings,” he smiled at both Sunny and Kit, his hands remaining by his sides, palms open towards them. It was a clear sign that he meant them no harm. On closer examination, Sunny didn’t even see a weapon on him.

Sunny stopped a few feet away and gave the stranger her best trusting smile.“What are you doing out here, fellow traveler? The day is nice but the weather is often quick to turn.” 

The man chuckled. “True. I am enjoying the sun while it lasts but I’m afraid my purpose here is of a much more serious nature. I am looking for someone.”

Sunny nodded in understanding. “Family?”

“No. Not family. An elf.”

Kit tensed by Sunny’s side though she showed no visible signs of doing so.

There had been a time when elves were not the perceived threat they were now. They were herbalists, artists, crafters and politicians. Then one elf, one pathetic general who was pitied more than revered, made a deal. It was whispered that he sided with an ancient race to gain power. Others said he didn’t know the kind of deal he was making until his people were on their knees and suffering. Either way, the elven people toppled from their position of beauty and nobility and now wandered the world as enforcers. They took what they pleased, they killed without mercy, and each passing year, their numbers dwindled. One day, the elves would be erased, leaving only monsters in their wake.

That was the story, at least. Kit just assumed most elves had a chip on their shoulder for one reason or another. She had yet to meet an elf who she felt sympathy towards.

“Seeking out elves usually ends with a knife in the belly,” Kit commented.

“Smart girl. The elf I’m looking for though is special. She might be in danger. She has wings. It is a commodity that her people don’t take kindly to. I wish to find her and help her.”

Sunny fought the urge to put her hand on her blade. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m afraid we did not catch your name.”

The man bowed. “My apologies. Father Ignacio.”

Such simple words and yet they had the power to make Sunny's stomach roll. “Father, huh? You a believer in the gods?” Devotee’s rarely advertised their faith. A weaponless man who was doing just that was out of place.

Father Ignacio grinned. “Aren’t we all in some ways?”

“It has always been my belief that a reliance on the gods only leads to let down.” Unlike Sunny, Kit was making no effort to hide that she was at the ready for an attack. Her blades glinted in the sun and her hands hovered close to each hilt.

Laughing loudly, Sunny slightly shoved Kit in the shoulder in both an act of joviality and a warning to calm it down. “You’ll have to excuse my friend here. She’s had a bitch of a morning. I’m Sunny, by the by, and the angry one here is Kit.”

“It is a pleasure, Sunny and Kit. And I don’t mean to be rude and continue to press the issue, but have either of you seen any elf fitting that description?”

“Well, we did stick our blades into a whole lot of them this morning but I can’t say any of them had wings.” Sunny shifted nervously.

“Ah, ambush, I take it?”

“Who knows with elves,” Sunny said. “Bloodthirsty bunch of creatures the majority of the time.”

“And you, ma’am?” Father Ignacio turned his attention to Kit. “Have you seen any elves fitting my description in your travels?"

“I haven’t. But elves are not creatures I make a habit of conversing with for long.”

Father Ignacio stared her down, his eyes flitting across Kit’s impassive face. “That’s a shame seeing how this woman is in severe danger. Guiding her to me could possibly save her life.”

“What exactly is she in danger of?” Sunny asked.

“Her own people. Winged elves are abominations. They are sentenced to death the moment they are discovered.”

“And what do you plan to do with such a rare creature, Father Ignacio,” Kit asked sweetly.

“Protect her.”

Kit nodded, pretending to think upon this for a moment. “Seems awfully odd that you, someone who appears to be human, is just willing to look out for this creature, an elf no less, out of the goodness of your heart.”

Father Ignacio let his lips stretch into a thin smile. “As someone who appears to be human, to another, I don’t like seeing creatures die simply because they were born into something that was not their fault. Can you not understand that?”

Kit matched his thin smile, but said nothing.

Down the road, the wheels of another carriage ground out over the dirt. Sunny glanced back at it and took one step off the path. “Father Ignacio, I do wish you your best in your search. This seems like a busy road. Hopefully someone with some amount of information will pass by.”

The Father hummed to himself.

“Well,” Sunny awkwardly kicked at the dirt. “Good day to you.” Turning to leave, Sunny fought the urge to quicken her steps. There was a writhing and eerie pit forming in her stomach the longer she was around the Father.

“There is a reward,” he called out to them. “If you come across her. I’ll be in Dunholme. I hear there’s a tavern there. The Silver Fox.”

Sunny looked at him over the shoulder. “I’d suggest the Giggling Donkey. Silver Fox is out of commission from what I hear.” Grabbing at Kit’s arm, she led the woman back into the forest. Kit’s eyes remained on the Father’s wide split grin.

They waited until Father Ignacio was out of sight before speaking.

“We’re taking a different way back to camp,” Kit said, veering right.

“You bet your ass we are,” Sunny shivered. “What a creepy little man.”

“Let this be a lesson to you, maybe, about not talking to strangers.”

“You say that, and I know you are right, but I’m a people person. It’s in my nature.”

“Yeah,” Kit commented, “well, take it from me. That trusting nature of yours is going to get you killed.”

The two women knew nothing about each other. Sunny was well aware that her proclamation of forming an adventuring group had fallen on wary ears. But, they did all seem to have somewhat of a similar goal in mind and to be honest, Sunny was feeling a bit sorry for Kit at this point. It was never easy to send off one of your own with no way of knowing their fate.

Speeding up, Sunny matched Kit’s stride. The woman stared determinedly ahead, one foot in front of the other, hands gripped tightly to her pack. It was the one that Jordy had been carrying.

“You doing alright?” Sunny asked after a moment.

“Yup.”

“You do know that that wasn’t your fault back there, right?”

“Father Ignacio?” Kit frowned.

“No. Jordy. And Damien.” At the mention of their names, Kit’s face went blank. It was the type of mask that Sunny understood all too well. “You couldn’t have seen that coming.”

“Yup.” Kit gripped the leather straps of her pack a bit tighter, her knuckles turning white.

Sunny nodded, looking ahead of them. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Though a fight at this moment would be amusing. It was doubtful that Kit would give a swift end to anyone crossing their path.

“You know,” Sunny said, avoiding Kit’s eyes. “It hurts like hell, but caring for someone is never the wrong choice.”

Kit swallowed.

“Emotions suck ass though,” Sunny muttered.

Kit cleared her throat. “Yup,” she said softly.

~~~~~  
Back at camp, Ein was staring out into the woods. A boy stood shivering among the trees. With vacant eyes, he stared passed Ein, wrapping his arms around his waist as if to shield himself from an unseen assailant.

“It’s coming. Arms like tentacles. Stretching too far.”

Ein cocked her head to the side. “I want to help you.” She had been trying to get through to him, offering him gentle reassurance, but he was unaware of her presence.

“Run,” the boy said.

“Please, let me help you,” Ein whispered. Sometimes they understood her. Other times they were simply stuck in a loop.

“Sticky and wet… growing too far…. Too far…. Too far….”

“Is she talking to someone?” Hurskin was staring intently at Ein who seemed to be focused on the base of a tree.

“She’s a seer,” Avienda said, as if this were the most natural thing. “They have abilities we do not.”

“It’s freaky,” Hurskin said.

“No,” Avienda observed Ein carefully. “It’s beautiful.” Ein was the youngest seer she had seen. Oracles often did not live long enough to come into their powers. Their eyes were scooped from their heads and presented as trophies to bored Lords and Ladies. Avienda considered it a miracle that Ein was still alive. Though, from the scars on her face, it was clear that she was not untouched.

“Just focus,” Ein encouraged. “Follow my voice. Tell me who you are so afraid of.”

Sunny and Kit came crashing through the woods and walked right through the boy. Ein startled as they rushed past her. She fell from where she crouched, looking at the now vacant spot the boy had been. Not once did he acknowledge her. Ein wasn’t even sure if he knew he was pleading for help.

“Who are you?” Ein heard Kit’s demands from behind her and turned. The woman was approaching Avienda, her weapon drawn.

“Whoa,” Hurskin stood, drawing his ax and standing between Kit and the winged elf. “I know you get off on murder but you need to calm it down.”

“We have a slight problem,” Sunny had her arms crossed, standing by Kit’s side. Ein frowned a bit at this, unsure when the two women had bonded enough to show any form of support.

Avienda swallowed as she held up her hands, trying to diffuse the situation. “You never asked.” With the lightest touch of her hand, she pushed Hurskin’s blade out of the way and walked unafraid towards Kit.

“I’m asking now,” Kit said.

“I have not lied to you, Kit. I was locked in that cage when Hurskin found me. I was in danger. And the elves are after me.”

“Why?”

“Wings,” she said simply. “I won’t go into detail all the reasons I am sought after, just know that predominately, it is the wings.”

“What?” Hurskin said. “They never see a bird before?”

Avienda kept her eyes level with Kit’s. “What is it you saw?”

“Someone is seeking you out,” Kit said. “I get the impression he knows you’re near.”

“Then I will not endanger you any further. All I ask is you let me make an escape.”

Kit put her dagger away. “I don’t sell out other people. Especially to some sort of god worshipper with a stupid hat.”

“Wait a minute,” Hurskin frowned at the elf. “So, she comes barreling into camp, threatens you, and you’re just going to leave?”

“Someone is looking for her,” Sunny said. “A man, not even a mile up, he’s asking everyone who stops by if they have seen a winged elf and he is offering payment for information. It’s only a matter of time before one of the people we’ve passed puts two and two together.”

“What does he want with her?” They couldn’t be certain but for a moment, it looked as if Hurskin might just go take care of the problem himself.

“He claims he wants to protect her but I highly doubt that’s the truth.” Kit didn’t trust most people who worshiped the divine, but there was something more sinister about Father Ignacio.

Biting her lip, Ein tried to gain their attention. “What did this man look like?”

“Normal,” Sunny said. “Kind of old. Kit got it right when she said he wore a stupid hat.”

Ein glanced back, hoping to see that the boy had reappeared. Once they were gone however, she rarely saw them again. Part of her hoped that meant they moved on. But with the absence of the gods, Ein was more prone to think it meant they succumbed to darkness.

“It sounds like your instincts were right,” Avienda said. “There was a man. He was known as the Collectore. He gathers rare and beautiful creatures. Dressed as a priest, he offers sanctuary to those he meets and ushers them away to a place that none have returned from.”

Hurskin quirked a brow towards Kit. “And you met this guy? I’m surprised you didn’t just stab him right there."

“Oh, she thought about it,” Sunny mused.

“A man matching this description entered my camp a few nights ago." Avienda's hands were clasped before her, wringing together fitfully. "I was traveling with a group of minstrels. He walked in and slaughtered them all. Didn’t even break a sweat. I hid within the trees and ran as soon as I could but I think he saw me. I can’t be certain but I think he was there that night for me alone.”

“I thought you were captured by elves,” Kit said.

“They jumped me while I was running. If Hurskin hadn’t shown up, I’m certain the Father would have found me.”

“The Father?” Sunny whistled low. “Yup, pretty sure that's the guy.”

“Avienda,” Kit said. “Avoid the main road. Don’t double back to Dunholme. I’m not sure if he was trying to get a rise out of me or if that was his next destination. I would just avoid the place all together though.”

“Wait wait wait,” Hurskin stood. “You fully admit that some creepy priest guy is after her, someone that she says killed an entire group of people, and you are suggesting that she just goes off into the woods on her own?”

“It’s her life or ours,” Kit said.

“Didn’t that gunslinger of yours say something to the effect of we don’t leave people behind?”

“Yeah, he did. And then Jordy got shot and now they’re not here. I’m not about to lose anyone else.”

Avienda nodded, gathering the few possessions she had. “It’s alright, Hurskin. I thank you for the last few days but Kit is right. My presence is a danger.”

“Kit is not right. Kit likes to murder people and spike everyone’s drinks.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” Smiling bravely, Avienda looked at each of them in turn. “May the gods guide you in your journey and keep you safe.”

Kit nodded. “May the gods guide you.”

“You don’t even believe in the gods!” Hurskin shouted.

“Pretty sure it’s a sayin’,” Sunny muttered.

Walking past the group, Avienda stopped at Ein. While the rest of the party fought, she remained on the outside, looking lost. Laying a hand on her shoulder, Avienda tried to smile encouragingly. “Learn from the spirits. You have a powerful gift. Don’t waste it.”

With that, Avienda walked into the woods, her green cloak trailing behind her and brushing the ground in her wake. The rest of them watched her go with mixed feelings but only Ein kept her eyes on her until she finally disappeared.

~~~~~  
“I don’t agree with what we just did,” Hurskin said, trudging along.

“We know, Hurskin. You’ve told us.” Kit knew they were close to the mines and soon the dwarf wouldn’t care. If this Father Ignacio was really what Avienda said he was, in a battle with him alone, Avienda would not survive. But it wasn’t Kit’s job to protect the elf. She wasn’t hired to do so. Kit just needed to get to the mines, get the illusive star metal, and go. After that, she could find Damien and Jordy. A fresh start in a new town was all she wanted. It was doubtful Dunholme would welcome them back with open arms.

“I don’t know why I am traveling with you lot,” Hurskin grumbled. “Murderous hobos, all of you.”

Sunny flung an arm around Hurskin’s shoulder and grinned decidedly too close to his face. “But we are your murderous hobos now.”

Ein frowned. “I’m not sure I like being called that.”

The forest started to taper out as the day went on, their path becoming rockier. Hurskin looked at a few of the stones on the ground, occasionally picking up some to hide in his bag. For the most part, they traveled in relative silence, letting their feet guide them to the base of a mountain. Dilapidated wood signs had fallen, laying dirty in muck and overgrowth. The writing on the signs had long since faded but it was clearly dwarven.

“Oh,” Ein breathed. Kit had picked up one of the signs, trying to discern the barely legible writing. In doing so, she uncovered an elf, cowering beneath the wreckage.

“Please,” the elf whispered. “No more.” The elf held her hands up to shield her face and Ein almost lunged forward to keep Kit from lashing out. But Kit just stared at the sign, squinting her eyes, before passing it to Hurskin to see what he made of it.

Ein looked at the rest of her group, bewildered. Sunny was whistling to herself, peering out through the trees where she could just make out the beginnings of a stone path.

Turning back to the elf, Ein took another step closer. The elf continued to beg, clutching her bloody head and cowering in fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Ein said gently. She remembered what Avienda had said. Her power was a gift. It was meant to help.

“Please,” the elf whimpered again.

Ein reached out, as if to touch her, but stopped short. She had touched a few spirits in her early days, before she knew any better. It always drained her. Not knowing what was ahead of them, Ein hesitated to do anything that would put her even slightly less than her best.

“Who did this to you?” Ein crouched by the elf’s side, trying to project as much compassion towards her as possible.

“The tentacle man,” she said, peering up at her through the slits in his hands. “He came at us. We didn’t even have a chance to fight back.”

“Ein,” Sunny approached slowly, keeping her voice low and soothing. “What do you see?”

Behind them, Kit and Hurskin were on guard, weapons drawn as they surveyed the woods. The elf’s whimpering increased as the tension in the air thickened. Ein reached out to caress the air around the terrified creature, not knowing how else to offer comfort.

“What do you see, Ein?” Sunny asked again.

Standing, Ein looked off into the woods in front of them. Just beyond the trees was the beginnings of a rock formation. Boulders piled high and wound in such a way that created a makeshift path up the side of the mountain. Just barely visible was a small rivulet of red, dripping down the dirty stone.

Stepping forward, Ein swept her fingertips through the brush around her, tickling them lightly as she made her way the entrance of the mountain path. A small pond was tucked against the mountain wall, tall rocks hugging the still pool. An elf lay, face down in the blue water, her blood stretching out in inky tendrils from a wound on her head.

All around them lay the bodies of the elven. Some had their limbs at odd angles, others lay without any at all. Ein spotted the elf she was looking for. Her head was concave and she lay slumped against a bloody stone. Eyes open in abject fear, her arm stretched out towards her abandoned sword three feet away.

“Shit,” Hurskin muttered. Ein turned to look at him, whipping around and peeling her eyes from the carnage. Hurskin was picking up a torn piece of green cloak. The fabric looked of silk and was trimmed with gold threading. “It’s Avienda’s.” Hurskin thumbed the fabric disbelievingly.

“No,” Kit said, “We told her to stay off the main road. To head away from the mountains.” However, the elves were after her. Looking around, Kit saw the remains of a cage. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

“I don’t think she is dead," Ein said. She would see a spirit if she were. Or at least that was her hope. Either way, neither Kit nor Hurskin looked all too comforted by her words.

“So now what?” Sunny asked.

Picking up a rock, Hurskin hefted it in his hands and threw it up the mountain path. It skittered to a stop before rolling slightly back towards them. There was no sign of life up ahead and no traps waiting to be triggered.

Tucking the small piece of cloak in his pocket, Hurskin began the trek upwards. Everyone else followed.


	4. Chapter Four

“Should I whistle?” Sunny asked, nudging Ein.

The air was starting to thin the higher they climbed. The mountain loomed in a winding pillar at the base of the forest, stretching up towards the sky in icy caps of frozen steam. Thicker cloaks had been retrieved from rucksacks only a quarter of the way up but they did nothing to stave off the biting chill that whipped against exposed skin.

“We don’t know these people,” Ein said softly. They were trailing slightly behind Hurskin and Kit. The dwarf had a fierce determination set in his gaze as they trudged along and the bartender seemed lost in her own thoughts. Ein noticed how her eyes were always moving, however. They flitted to the corners and around bends, searching for any lurking beast ready to lunge.

“You and I didn’t know each other in the beginning. It’s how you make friends. You talk. You share stories. You bond over the blood of your enemy.”

Ein hummed noncommittal in the back of her throat. Sunny’s teeth chattered as she spoke and Ein figured her words had more to do with keeping warm than with a genuine desire for a broader friendship base.

“All I’m saying,” Sunny continued, “is that if we’re going to be traveling with them, maybe we need to break the ice a bit.”

“And you suggest whistling?”

Sunny nodded and pulled at the flask tied to her hip. She took a long pull from it before offering it to Ein. “Either they will find it endearing and we will all enter into an impromptu whistle-a-long. Or they will turn around and shoot me. Either way, it would make for one hell of a story.” Ein waved the proffered drink away. It’s contents were less alcohol and more dragon fire. You didn’t take a drink from Sunny lightly.

Bone littered the rocky path before them in an abandoned graveyard. Rusting blades and shredded armor peaked out from beneath ice and dirt. No one looked down to question the crunch beneath their feet and whether it was packed snow or old remains. Beneath cavern ledges and skirting the edge of sheer cliff’s, a monster lurked. Ein could only hope it had already had it’s fill.

“Don’t worry.” Sunny could see the trepidation even through the milky white of Ein’s eyes. “Those two up there? They’re looking for a fight. Anything comes our way and it’ll be supper before you and I can even let off a good old fashion battle cry.”

“We don’t eat random creatures on the side of the road,” Kit said, glancing back at them. 

Sunny leaned close to Ein. “How long you think she’s been listening?”

“Probably since ‘whistle a long’,” Ein said.

Kit ran her gloved fingers across the side of the mountain. There had been a dwarf, years ago, that had drank at her bar. Like many dwarves, he was searching for the Mourngrym treasure. As the years stretched further from the Mourngrym’s abandonment of their lands, the stories as to why they fled only became wilder. Tales of demons haunting the base of the mines arose and, like with any good tale, the riches that the demons protected were too vast to comprehend. The Mourngrym mines were the pinnacle of dwarven success yet were alive only in fable. Rarely did anyone travel to its depths. 

One night, when liquor had run rampant, this dwarf had told Kit of a door. It looked like stone but felt smooth as a blade. This was where the entrance to the mines were said to be. He was setting out the next morning with a crew of twelve. 

Kit wondered which of the bodies she passed was his.

Up ahead a distant moan trickled down the mountainside. They had been hearing the likes of it for some time as it echoed across stone. Kit stopped as another one whispered in her ears but it wasn’t the voice that had given her pause. 

Smooth as a blade. 

Pulling her glove off Kit ran her thumb across the jagged edge of the mountain wall. It glided smoothly across the surface despite the appearance being pitted and rough. Stepping closer, Kit narrowed her eyes. The rock face gave off an unnatural sheen. Despite the ice and snow it was polished, unmarred by the harsh wind around them. To one side lay a small indent on the stones surface. Kit would have easily missed it if she hadn’t halfway known what she was looking for. With the slightest of pressure, she pushed at the indent with the pad of her thumb.

The mountain rumbled, groaning in protest as it awoke from it’s slumber. The stone wall began to slide into itself. Kit stumbled back into Hurskin and not even the dwarf could manage a cocky comment as he caught her. 

A metal hall stretched darkly in front of them. Polished walls reflected back at each other, bouncing back and forth the small amount of sunlight from outside. The air was clean and crisp and welcomed them with a gentle hush laden with the grave unknown.

“This a Mourngrym specialty?” Kit asked Hurskin.

Hurskin shook his head.

Hand on her dagger, Kit took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold. An electric snap popped next to her ear as if a lantern had suddenly burst. Another one followed as Sunny stepped through the door to stand by Kit.

Hurskin and Ein remained outside.

“Let’s get sneaky,” Sunny said. Next to her, Kit all but disappeared. “I didn’t mean that sneaky.”

The hall was lined with unmarked doors and an empty feeling permeated the air. No one had walked this darkened passage for years and even the slightest touch of Sunny’s foot seemed to echo all the way down the hall. Up above, pools of light spilled onto the floor, following their steps. It gave away Kit’s position immediately and caused Sunny to be ill at ease. There was no hiding here.

“No time like the present then.” Turning to a door, Sunny pushed on one of the panels like she had seen Kit do outside.

The room opened up into a small bedroom. The same polished clean walls glinted back at them. Not a speck of dust littered the floors. Other than a bed and a small chest of drawers, the room was unremarkable and untouched. As they continued on they were greeted with much the same. Kit couldn’t help but be reminded of military barracks. Just a place for someone to rest their head for a few hours before battle. The question remained, however, as to where all the inhabitants were.

“This is a waste of time.” Hurskin still stood outside, Ein hovering nervously next to him. He had learned in life that there were certain things you did not mess with. Strange bunkers embedded in the side of a mountain fell neatly into that category. 

“Hey Kit?”

Sunny had disappeared into yet another room. Kit turned to follow her, her eyes blurring with the sameness that loomed before them. Door, room, abandoned lives. The entire place was empty in that slightly eerie kind of way.

All desire to flee vanished as Kit followed the sound of Sunny’s voice. A large cylinder stretched from ceiling to floor in front of Sunny and glass lay in a scattered, broken mess at her feet. Steam bubbled from the glass enclosure and boiled over the sides to waft lazily across the floor. A thin trail of blood could be seen just below it’s murky depths, stopping in a small pool at Sunny’s feet.

“What is that thing?” Sunny jerked her hand back as she touched the icy surface. She could see blood on the inside of the tube. Almost as if someone had to beat their way out.

“Hello?”

Both Kit and Sunny jumped, weapons drawn as they looked around the room. The voice was muffled and slightly unnatural to the ear.

“Hello?” It cracked through the room in a static burst before trailing off to a faint fizzle.

“Hello,” Sunny found her voice first, her knives at the ready.

“Down here.”

The floor held nothing but a black discarded shirt and a few slabs of stone. One stone, however, emitted a pale blue light from beneath.

Cautiously, Sunny picked it up. The slab was heavy in her hands and felt too smooth to be a piece of rubble. The underside felt more like glass than stone and as Sunny flipped it over the image of a woman grew from the blue light. She was barely a foot tall and her features were obscured by broken flickering lines.

Sunny nearly dropped the slab.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

Looking at Kit with a panicked set of eyes, Sunny tried to hold out the strange contraption in her hand. Kit remained out of the blue woman’s sight and simply gestured for Sunny to respond.

“Yes? I can hear you.”

“Good. You must be in the captains quarters. Are you here to rescue us?”

“Uh, of course,” Sunny said. “We rescue…. Things.”

Kit rolled her eyes.

“The lower levels have been quarantined but I am detecting a life form not far from you. There are two more outside the main doors. I assume they are with you.”

Quickly, Sunny turned the stone upside down, looking for some sigil or form of enchantment.

“Please don’t jostle me. I am unacquainted with being awake. I’m afraid I am a bit unsteady.”

Making eye contact with the woman, Sunny held the tablet as far away from her as possible, briefly considering smashing it beneath her boot. “What… who?”

“My name is Deechala. I am the A.I of this ship. We have been in hyper sleep for…” her voice trailed off in a series of crackling pops. Both Kit and Sunny winced. “I awoke when you opened the doors.”

“Okay,” Sunny gave Kit a sidelong look. “I understood about every third word of that one.”

“You said this was the captains quarters?” Kit stepped forward, putting her daggers away. The thing before them seemed to be more of Ein’s specialty than there’s. Kit doubted it was a threat. “So this is a ship?”

“Yes.”

“You do know you are in the side of a mountain, right?” Sunny asked. “The ocean is about four days from here.”

“We crashed,” Deechala said. “I will explain everything but first….”

The room shook with a force of an earthquake. Both Kit and Sunny held on to the walls, the stone slab crashing to the floor. Books toppled from their neatly decorated shelves and the few pictures that had adorned the wall, smashed loudly to the floor. The quake was over just as quickly as it started.

Outside, Hurskin and Ein called out to their companions. 

“We’re okay,” Kit yelled back.

Sunny bent down to retrieve the slab again. Deechala was on the other side, looking none the worse for wear.

“Okay, small blue girl,” Sunny said. “What was that?”

The figure seemed to be concentrating, her eyes flicking back and forth. “There has been a breach on the lower levels. Before I was put in stasis, I had detected numerous mineral deposits beneath our floor.”

“Meaning?” Sunny asked.

“Information unknown. If you find the acting captain, he may know how to turn on the rest of my functions. I am working at half capacity.”

“Again,” Sunny said, “every third word.” She turned to Kit. “Sounds like we are on the quest for a captain.”

“Deechala, where might your captain be?”

“The main hub. Three rooms down and across the hall. It is protocol to go there first to obtain a status update and inquire into further instructions.”

Stepping out in the hall, Kit eyed the door Deechala spoke of. “Hurskin? Ein? I think we might be above the mines.” Though Kit’s assertion was based simply on a drunken story and a blue woman who she could stick her hand through.

Damien had mentioned a place like this once; one that was more technologically advanced than them. Supposedly it was not of their world. Damien also had a penchant for the unnatural and was drawn to the odd. Kit never put much stock in his stories.

Cautiously, Kit opened the third door with Sunny not far behind. Directly across from them was the next door in question. It was wider than the others but had a similar mechanism for opening it.

“What the hell is this place?” Hurskin asked. Ein and him had crossed the threshold into the ship as Kit and Sunny had disappeared inside yet another room. The entire cleanliness of the place was setting Hurskin on edge.

“It is a C – 182 vessel of echo quadrant 9.”

Hurskin jumped and looked at the stone tablet that Sunny cradled in her arms. “What the hell is that?”

“My name is Deechala.”

“She’s an A.I,” Sunny said conspiratorially. She moved to cover Deechala’s ears as if to shield the woman from the term.

“What is an A.I?” Hurskin nearly yelled.

Kit winced at the dwarf’s voice. If anyone was on the other side of the door, the element of surprise was certainly gone by now.

A fact that was confirmed as the door whooshed open.

Long, elegant fingers were wrapped around the hilt of a gun; the barrel pointed between Kit’s eyes.

“Hello,” the man was pleasant enough, offering them a cordial smile. His grey eyes were hard, however, and Kit highly doubted he would hesitate to pull the trigger.

“Hello,” she responded. “I believe we have a mutual friend.” Behind her, Sunny hastily held up Deechala. The A.I was held sideways, flickering as it adjusted to its new position.

“Deechala,” the man said slowly. “Report.” His eyes remained on Kit, his gun unwavering.

“Star date unknown. Ship function at critical. Power at twenty percent.”

“Life forms?” 

Deechala remained quiet. Despite the lack of emotion the A.I generated, the pause was pregnant enough to denote the bad news.

“Deechala. Life forms. Report.”

“Life forms unknown.”

With his gun still aimed at Kit, the man cocked a cold smile towards her. “This does not bode well for you.”

Kit observed the man carefully. His tall frame filled the door but was lean beneath a long russet colored coat. Strands of hair fell wetly in front of his face and curled at the nap of his neck while the hand clenching the gun was wrapped in a blood stained cloth. His shirt was ill fitting, denoting that it was not his own and the confidence he exuded seemed to stem from an adrenaline rush that practically rolled from his skin. 

“I know those guns,” Kit said quietly. The man was ready to snap. “It sounds like you’ve been incapacitated for a while. You sure there’s still ammo in there?”

Pointing the gun downwards, he shot. The bang echoed through the hall and a scorch mark was left embedded on the floor next to Kit’s foot.

“You were saying?”

“We aren’t here to fight,” Sunny said quickly. “We stumbled across your place and I think I can speak for all of us when I say, it’s okay if we need to leave.”

“Like hell it is,” Hurskin interjected. “These might be my mines.” 

The man looked confused. “Mines? What are you…?”

“If I may, sir,” Deechala interjected. “By my calculation you have been in cryostasis for approximately three hundred years. These new life forms have just arrived. They have caused no damage to the ship and are confused over their surroundings. They do not appear to be a threat.”

The man hesitated a moment, then lowered his gun. “Captain Loc,” he said. “A pleasure to meet you. Now, if you excuse me, I would like my A.I back. I have business to attend.”

Sunny curled herself around the slab of stone a bit protectively. “You’ve been in cryo something or other for three hundred years. It can wait.”

“She doesn’t belong to you.”

“She is a free thinking being. She doesn’t belong to you either,” Sunny asserted.

“Now look here dwarf,” Loc took a step forward. Kit placed a hand on his shoulder and noticed how he didn’t seem to press further. He wasn’t looking for a fight. Perhaps just an assertion of dominance. “I would greatly appreciate having my A.I back. She’s not at full capacity and I kind of need her to get this thing up and running. If what the other short guy says is true, I might be on top of your mines. Meaning, you need me to move. So let me move.”

“Give him back the weird stone thing,” Hurskin demanded.

“Stop calling her a weird stone thing. She has a name.” Sunny hugged the image of Deechala to her.

Ein, knowing how these situations often went with Sunny, reached out and took Deechala from Sunny’s grip. The Captain looked bemused as Ein handed the slab to him and nodded his thanks to her. Kit frowned. Captains were usually much less amused by possible insubordination. Then again, they weren’t his crew. 

“Alright then, you might as well come in here. Not sure what else is lurking in these damn halls.” Loc moved back into the room, his greatcoat swirling behind him.

A sphere took up the entirety of the center of the room. It was made from the same pale blue light as Deechala and flickered with small silver lines. Beneath it lay a rounded table, the surface of which was bent at a slight angle. It glowed with sluggishly changing colors while other sections sparked sporadically with flame. 

“Is it supposed to do that?” Ein whispered to no one in particular. She was drawn to the structure before her, never having lain eyes on something so incompatible to their world. A small ball of hope curled in her stomach that this might be the remnants of one of the gods.

“There we go.” Loc placed Deechala’s slab in a small nook next to a sparking section of the largest panel. Her image flickered for a moment and then disappeared all together before reappearing above them, bright and stable. “Alright, Deechala. Feel better?”

The A.I smiled. “Yes. Function is at seventy percent capacity.”

“We’ll work on unlocking more later. Want to save the power reserves.” Taking a step back, Loc crossed his arms and surveyed the woman’s image. He nodded approvingly. “Alright, what’s the status on Jean. Still in cryo?”

“Lieutenant Jean left cryostasis two weeks ago.”

Loc paled. “Status report?”

“I lost contact with him once he reached the lower levels.”

“Why the hell would he go to the lower levels?”

“Mission unclear.”

Ein watched as Loc rubbed his eyes in distress. “Who’s Jean?”

“A friend,” he snapped.

“If he’s missing, we could help.” Ein felt the rest of the group turn their attention towards her but she kept her head held high. If this place was truly from the gods, then she was not missing the opportunity to explore. 

“And why would you do that?” Loc drawled, rather curiously.

“They,” Ein motioned to Hurskin and Kit, “are searching for something. Your so called ship might have their answers. As for me, I want to help people. There’s not enough of that going on in our world.”

The man looked faintly impressed by Ein’s candor. “You know what? Why not? Traveling with strangers and trusting them with your life sounds like the thing to do today.” With a few more motions over the glowing dash, Loc turned to the group with a wide grin. He hooked an arm out and quirked a brow at them. “Shall we?”

“What about Deechala?” Sunny asked.

“She can communicate with us through the ships coms. Let her do that. Better than carrying the tablet around and risking it getting cracked. Doubt your people have the technology to fix her.”

Descending into the lower decks resulted in much the same. Metal walls, metal floors, and an apprehensive feeling that overwhelmed them with every light that intuitively clicked on overhead. A soft whir filled the rooms and had been steadily growing since they entered the ship. It hummed loudly only to taper off the further down they walked. Ein kept her eyes open for anything that might be of use, mentally cataloguing what she was seeing. 

Ein was unlike the others. She wasn’t boisterous like Sunny and couldn’t walk up to an individual and expel her thoughts without worry. She also lacked the confidence that Hurskin exuded. Ein knew that that came with age and experience, both of which she did not have. Nor was she a skilled fighter like Kit; the last time Ein tried to wield a blade, she dropped it. As the rest of her party traveled through the metal tubes and talked among themselves, Ein wondered if they felt the same sense of fear that she did. She wondered if they questioned whether they would make it through the day alive or if they had long ago accepted that their life could be cut short with the barest of incident.

“Don’t go in there.”

Ein jumped. At this point it was assumed she would be used to the dead popping up without a warning. But it still got her every time.

The man was dressed similarly to Loc, except for more adornment to the upper sleeves of his coat. His eyes were sunken and his smile weary.

“In where?” Ein asked cautiously. Hurskin threw her a sidelong look.

“That door straight ahead. The dead walk. And they aren’t kind to anyone that disturbs their peace.”

Ein looked at the door in question. Loc was punching in a random sequence of numbers on the small panel. It kept turning up red.

“It’s up to you,” the spirit gave Loc a sidelong look. “But, when push comes to shove, I’m not sure I would trust him.”

“Stop.” Ein’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper. No one paid her any attention. Closing her eyes, she clenched her fists to her side before clearing her throat loudly. “Stop,” she said with a bit more volume.

Sunny turned to Ein curiously. “Hey guys? Hold it a sec.” Loc stopped what he was doing and the rest of the group turned towards Ein. “What’s up?”

Now that all eyes were on her, Ein felt herself falter slightly. “I don’t think we should go in there. We might be walking into an ambush.”

“Everyone on this ship is dead,” Loc said carefully.

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t here anymore.” Ein was used to the look that Loc gave her. It was the same look that the villagers exchanged when Ein was a child. Usually what followed was a midnight pull from her bed and a group of men abandoning her to her fate in the middle of the forest.

“Did you see something, Ein?” Sunny positioned her body between Ein and Loc, just in case the man didn’t take kindly to someone touched by the divine. She had been traveling with Ein long enough to know how easily a situation like this got out of control.

Ein looked at the spirit. “How many?”

“Six that I know of. But a whole crew died down there.”

“Six,” Ein said with confidence. “Most likely more.”

Loc frowned. “Who is she talking to?”

“You have your secrets. We have ours.” Kit stepped towards Loc and placed her body between him and the panel.

“Ask him what happened to his crew,” the spirit prompted.

Ein bit her lip nervously. Loc didn’t seem like a dangerous man. Cautious maybe, and quick to draw his weapon, but not what Ein would consider an active threat. “What happened to your crew, Captain?”

Loc’s body shifted, his hand resting near his gun. But his face remained the same broad smirk that it normally did.

“Now that,” Hurskin said, “is an interesting question.”

Normally, Loc could talk his way out of nearly any situation, but he was also not a foolish man. When presented with four potential enemies you backed down until the odds were a bit more in your favor. “I promise story time later.” He held up his hands in peace. “Right now I have a first mate down there somewhere and…”

“And he’s survived two weeks without you. A few more minutes won’t decide his fate.” Kit crossed her arms and leaned against the wall; a pose mimicking Loc’s early nonchalance. “Answer the question, Captain.”

Loc could run. Maybe they wouldn’t stop him. But he had done that once already and it had gotten him here.

“This ship is a prison transport,” he said. “It was meant to safely escort high profile enemies to colonies that can contain them without a threat to the general populace. There were a few unfavorable souls on this ship but nothing of much note. Then, she came along.”

“She?” Hurskin asked.

“I didn’t ask for her name.” Loc crossed his arms in front of him, trying to look casual. Ein saw his eyes twitch towards the door. “She was supposed to remain asleep for the journey. It was safer that way. Somehow, she woke up early. When she escaped from her cell, she started killing the crew. We lost control of the ship in a matter of minutes. I’m still not sure how. But I was told not to let her out. At all costs. So, when it looked like she was getting the upper hand, Jean and I ran up here and sealed the lower decks.”

“And your crew?” Ein’s voice was small, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Loc stared her straight in the eye. “They got locked down below with her.”

“Jesus,” Hurskin muttered, taking a few steps away.

“It’s not like I feel great about it,” Loc called back. “There was nothing we could do.”

“So what was the plan?” Kit asked. “Keep going to the colony?”

“We were knocked off course and our ship was damaged. The plan was to hope that a transport would come by and help us.”

“But you ended up in a mountain,” Kit stated.

“Yeah. Not really sure about that one.”

“I don’t understand,” Sunny interjected. “Why not just keep heading towards the colony? If you were knocked off course, couldn’t you, I don’t know, ask for directions or something?”

Loc snorted. “Or something.” Running a hand through his hair, he seemed to be weighing his options. While the rest of them weren’t certain of the inner workings of whatever this vessel was, it was clear that neither was Loc. “Okay, truth?” he asked. “I couldn’t reset the coordinates because I didn’t know where to go.”

“And why’s that?” Kit thought she might already know the answer

“This isn’t exactly my ship.”

“Ding ding ding,” the spirit said, off to one side. Ein looked at him, having forgotten he was still there. “Hard to feel incredibly guilty about the loss of a crew when they aren’t your crew.”

“You’re a thief,” Hurskin yelled, putting two and two together.

“Yes. I am. But I am a thief with the ability to get you downstairs to your mines.”

“What happened to the real captain?” Ein asked.

“Probably the same thing that happened to the crew. Now, would you like to put me on trial or would you like me to open the door?”

Kit locked eye’s with Hurskin, making it clear that the decision was his. They could get by without Loc if it came down to it, and make their way to the mines on their own. Her finger ran across the hilt of her dagger, making her intentions clear.

“Open the door,” Hurskin said. He didn’t want anymore blood on his hands. “But we are watching you.”

“Fair.”

It took Loc a few drawn out minutes but he eventually got the door to open. Unlike the other doors, this one struggled to slide back, its metal scraping loudly as it dragged across the floor.

The hall before them was darker than the others. A single flickering light barely illuminated their path. It cast shadows dancing from door to door and somewhere from the blackened depths, a groan rose to greet them.

“After you,” Kit gestured to Loc with the tip of her dagger.

One by one they filed in. Ein glanced at the spirit still standing by the now open door. “You could come with us,” she suggested.

“I’ve seen what’s down there. I think I’ll take a breather. Thanks.”

Unlike the floor above, the lower levels were caked with dust and the air smelled stale. Fragmented segments of rock ripped through the walls and peeled the metal back in rusty strips. The floor was in much the same condition, uneven beneath their feet and scattered with debris.

“If you locked everyone down here,” Ein said. “Where are they?” There was no sign of blood or decay. Just natural rot and dirt from crumbled stone.

The door at the end of the hall was open, bent back from the wall at an angle that looked like it had been pulled. They stepped over the rubble that lay in the way and into a room. It felt bigger but none of them could see more than a few feet in front of their face.

“Deechala,” Loc kept his voice low so as not to alert anything that might be lurking. “I have access to the lower levels. Any way you can generate some light down here?”

It was instantaneously that the lights flicked on over head. Ein immediately wished that they hadn’t.

Dozens of men and woman lay on the floor, their clothes torn and dirty, their flesh dripping from bone. The first thing Ein noticed was the lack of spirits hanging around for such a massacre.

The second , was the lack of smell.

“Are they in cages?” Hurskin whispered. Floor to ceiling bars lined the room. Each body was curled behind them as if they had put themselves to bed for the night.

“Cells. This was the prison section.” Loc reached out and touched a panel to his right. At once, all twelve doors shut. “I don’t think they are dead,” he said slowly.

Kit was crouched down near one of the cells, looking at the prone figure of a woman. Half her face was in a rotted puddle on the floor. Next to her was what looked like a dwarf. He curled around himself protectively, unmoving. “They’re dead,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t get back up.”

“What kind of prisoner were they transferring?” Sunny asked.

“I don’t know,” Loc said. “A woman. She was strong. I didn’t get a glimpse at her really. Just a few things that I saw over the security cameras. But she didn’t… she didn’t look right. And the pull she had over the crew…” Loc shuddered. “I’ve never seen so many people go mad so quickly.”

“There were stories,” Hurskin said. “Of a monster that haunted the mines. It would call to the workers, lead them away somewhere dark. When they returned, they were walking dead.” Hurskin eyed one of the dwarves, happy it was behind bars. “I don't get it. If you have been crashed here for three hundred years, why are there no stories of this place? Why are all my people's tales filled only with sickness and death?"

“Because maybe the dwarves that found this place didn't return to tell the actual tale.” Loc tensed as Kit stood, her back straight and her hands twitching towards her daggers. Instinctively, he reached for his gun. Trying not to draw any attention to himself, he looked around the room.

All was silent except for the soft click click click above their heads.

Looking up, Kit felt her stomach roll. Hunched on the ceiling, obscured by a mass of greasy black hair, was what looked like a woman. Cocking her head to the side she opened her mouth in a lopsided smile and rolled her tongue across the tips of her teeth. Two large incisors split her pink flesh in two. Launching herself forward the creature let out an ear shattering scream that shook the room and caused them all to stumble.

The woman dropped onto Kit and wrapped brittle legs tightly around her. Kit could feel nails cut into her skin. She jerked as she felt the creature bite down on her shoulder and a thick bubbling substance dripped across her neck. With a cry, Kit raised both her daggers and stabbed down blindly, a spray of black blood slashing across her face. The creature screamed again before jerking back on her haunches and skittering back into the shadows.

Inside the cells, the dead began to wake. They rose with an increasing series of moans, their bony fingers wrapping around the doors and rattling the bars. Their screams became deafening as they rose into a crescendo of desperate and bloodthirsty cries.

Sunny reached down to help Kit stand. The woman was bent double, panting harshly through gritted teeth. Kit’s eyes were still searching the shadows of the room and was nearly knocked back as Kit launched herself forward, daggers at ready.

Hurskin and Loc followed quickly behind. The monster skittered up the wall, hanging from the ceiling and slashing at them with elongated claws. Loc fired his gun, hitting her square in the shoulder but she didn’t shutter.

“I can’t reach it,” Hurskin yelled uselessly over the noise. Loc continued to fire, tearing through flesh with each shot and feeling a pit of dread grow as the woman simply laughed at his efforts. 

Scurrying around the ceiling, the creature paused and arched her back. It’s deathly grey skin stretched across bone and it’s spine cracked. One by one the bullets Loc had unloaded into her trickled musically to the floor. Then, she turned her eyes directly onto Ein, her lips molding into a jagged grin. Reaching out with one hand, the woman crooked a finger towards the tiefling.

Ein’s scream pierced the air, her body frozen as blood was torn from the pores of her skin. It swirled through the air in perfect little beads before sucked into the woman’s open mouth. The creatures skin brightened, casting off the sheen of death.

Kit lept at the woman, hooking her with both her daggers and dragging her to the ground. Ein fell heavily, panting on her hands and knees and feeling her vision swim. 

With a series of fast sweeps, Kit brought down her blades in rapid succession, feeling the crunch of bone and muscle as her knife tore through the body beneath. The monster scrambled for purchase, digging one leg into Kit’s thigh and leaning down to breathe wetly into her face.

Sunny slid on her side, gliding under the belly of the monster and scraping her with the blunt end of her dagger. The monster rolled off Kit, slipping over the wet globs of viscera smearing across the floor. Kit stumbled to her feet and tried to attack the woman again but was knocked away with a backwards slash. She skidded across the room and hit the wall hard. Dazed, Kit felt the monsters eyes turn on her. Trying to clear her vision, Kit blinked rapidly, but the room was spinning and the monsters breath still smelled heady and sweet, clouding her thoughts.

With his sword, Hurskin swung down, cleaving the woman’s head from her body before it could get any closer to Kit. Inside the cages, the ghouls all fell, their bodied thumping loudly to the ground. All went silent around them as the head of the woman rolled to a stop a few feet away.

Hurskin turned to Kit as she rose gingerly to her feet. “You’re welcome.”

Kit stared at him, the silence that now inhabited the room ringing in her ears. “What?” 

Hurskin gestured to the corpse at their feet. The monster looked more like a woman in death. Her legs curled elegantly beneath her and her inky black hair splayed in a perfect arc around her face. “Clearly, that thing was going to kill you. I just saved your life.”

Kit’s mouth hung open, blood dripping from the leather of her armor. “What?”

Sunny toed the body with the tip of her boot. She half expected the thing to lunge forward, mouth open, ready to bite. “I’m assuming this was the prisoner?”

Loc nodded. “Vampire. Although that one looked corrupted.”

“Probably should have lead with that,” Sunny said. The crew around them lay dead, this time with no chance of coming back. 

“Captain, I am detecting two lifeforms.” Deechala’s voice came from all around them, causing not just Ein to jump.

“Where?” Loc asked.

As Deschala gave them direction of where to go, Ein looked at Kit curiously. The woman had taken a beating. Ein had seen her sides ripped open and blood spray the ground. She had been thrown against the wall like she was nothing. And yet, there wasn’t a mark on her. To top it off, Ein hadn’t seen someone move that fast, or exude that much strength in a long time. Bartenders were bartenders because they had no other useful skills.

Sunny came up to Ein’s side. “Oh, she’s full of shit, that one,” the dwarf chuckled lowly, having read the expression in Ein’s eyes. “Seem’s our traveling bartender is a bit more than she lets on.”

Ein shook her head. “We shouldn’t be traveling with them, Sunny. I didn’t sign up for vampires and hordes of elves.”

“You didn’t,” Sunny agreed. “But aren’t you glad you did?”

“Deechala say’s that she thinks Jean might be up ahead. That also looks to be where your mines are. With that thing dead, we shouldn’t have any problems getting there.” Loc turned to Kit and was taken aback as the woman straightened, stretching out her arms as if she had a simple kink in her neck. “You alright?”

“It looked worse than it was,” Kit said. She nodded towards the next door and walked past the dead woman on the floor. “Lead the way, Captain.”

Loc hesitated but the notion that his Lieutenant lay somewhere ahead was enough for him not to question her. 

Wiping his blade on the back of his trousers, Hurskin nodded solemnly to Kit. “I know it’s hard to say thank you. And that’s okay. We both know what happened.” He left the room, not wishing to stay among the carnage any longer.

Kit blinked after him. Only briefly did she contemplate stabbing him.


End file.
